Iran’s Rial Falls to Record Low Above 2.5 Million per Dollar

Iran’s rial fell to a record low on September 29, with open-market traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for one U.S. dollar, deepening pressure on an economy already strained by years of sanctions and the ongoing war. The latest level surpassed the previous reported record of 2.2 million rials per dollar on September 2. A market tracker had recorded a peak of 2.442 million on September 28, though the reports do not establish a uniform method for measuring the different rates. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February, according to reporting cited by Iranian currency accounts. U.S. officials have attributed the economic pressure to sanctions and restrictions on Iranian oil sales. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that those measures were denying Tehran oil revenue and described Iran as heading toward an economic cataclysm. The reports provide no independent estimate of how much the sanctions or blockade contributed to the rial’s fall, or how much other factors played a role. The currency’s decline comes as Iran and the United States pursue indirect discussions over the Strait of Hormuz.