Oil rich Iran's currency crashed by 9 per cent to a record low of 32,500 rial againt the dollar in early trade today. This is before real-time data given by some exchange websites were censored, the Nasdaq has reported.
Today's crash was unusually high and exchange data on some websites such as Mazanex.com were censored. Other news agencies in Iran including ISNA reported the IRR32,500 rate, and the Mehr news agency and the exchange tracking website Mesghal.com reported the rial trading at IRR32,300 to the dollar. This was sharply lower than the close of trade on Sunday, when the rial exchanged at IRR29,600 to the dollar. At the end of last year, the rial fetched around IRR13,000 to the dollar.
Iran is going through heightened geopolitical tensions over its nuclear program and crash in its currency may mean escalation of crises. Already, Iran's currency has crashed by 75 per cent its value since last year, which means effects of draconian Western sanctions have hit the nation's economy hard.
Iran's official new agency IRNA quoted a spokesman for Iran's money changers' association, Nosrat Ezzati, as saying the latest rates for the rial "are artificial as no real exchange is happening in the market.
