Iran's currency hits all-time low as western sanctions take their toll

Source: The Guardian

Iranians are suffering their worst financial crisis since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, with the national currency hitting an all-time low and the prices of staple goods soaring.

With the Iranian economy crumbling under escalating western sanctions, the rial was sent into a tailspin on Monday, dropping by more than 15% to its lowest-ever level against the dollar. At midday, 34,500 rials bought $1 on the open market, compared to 29,600 rials on Sunday's close, according to Iranian currency-monitoring websites.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had previously rejected predictions that the rial would drop as low as 30,000 rials against the dollar, saying that such suggestions amounted to little more than "psychological war". The latest news will come as a further blow to a president already widely seen as a lame duck. Ahmadinejad will stand down in June 2013, and cannot run for a third term under Iranian law.

"What an embarrassment for Ahmadinejad," said Farshad, a student at Tehran University. "The economy is in crisis and he is either blind to it or simply doesn't want to see it."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/01/iran-currency-rial-all-time-low