Iran’s rial at all-time low against the dollar

Currency plunges 18% in two days amid persistent fears Trump administration could pull out of nuclear deal and impose new sanctions

By AP 9 April 2018, 4:54 pm 0 Edit

Illustrative photo of Iranian banknotes and foreign coins displayed by a vendor on a side walk of the Ferdowsi Street in Tehran, Iran, January 23, 2013. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranians were lining up Monday to try and purchase foreign currencies after the rial hit an all-time low against the US dollar.

The rial was trading at 62,000 to the dollar, an 18 percent drop since Saturday, which was the first working day after the Persian new year, when many people travel abroad.

Iran brings in some $75 billion a year in foreign currency, mostly from crude oil exports, which resumed after the 2015 nuclear deal. But the country remains largely cut off from international financial networks because of US sanctions.

The local currency has been weighed down by fears the Trump administration will withdraw from the nuclear deal and impose new sanctions.