Iran's currency drops to record low against dollar as tensions soar

"Iran's currency has dropped to a record 1,500,000 rials to the US dollar, according to several Iranian currency tracking websites, weeks after protests sparked by the rial's dwindling value rocked the country. Exchange shops on Tuesday offered the record-low rial-to-dollar rate in Tehran, deepening the economic hardship for large swaths of the Iranian populace suffering from decades of extensive economic mismanagement and international sanctions."

"The demonstrations that began in the capital on December 28 quickly spread across the country, with protesters demanding political change. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iranian security forces, the scale of which is only starting to become clear as the country faced more than two weeks of internet blackout the most comprehensive in its history. Iran's government said at least 3,117 people were killed in the unrest, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labelled the rest terrorists."

"This latest dip comes nearly a month after shopkeepers in Tehran's Grand Bazaar shut their stores in protest against the falling value of the rial, hyperinflation and a government decision to end certain food and fuel subsidies. The demonstrations that began in the capital on December 28 quickly spread across the country, with protesters demanding political change. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iranian security forces."

Iran's currency dropped to a record 1,500,000 rials to the US dollar, with exchange shops in Tehran offering that rate. The decline deepened economic hardship for many Iranians already affected by decades of economic mismanagement and international sanctions. The Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said the foreign exchange market is following its natural course. The drop followed protests triggered by subsidy cuts, hyperinflation and the rial's falling value, including a Tehran Grand Bazaar strike. The protests began December 28, spread nationwide, and were met with a violent security crackdown and a prolonged internet blackout. Official and activist groups report differing death tolls.

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