TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president sends a bill to parliament that would cut four zeroes from the value of the Islamic Republic’s sanctions-battered currency, the rial, as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington.
By sending the bill to lawmakers, President Hassan Rouhani’s government shows it is serious about an idea discussed for some time in Iran, where people discuss monetary transactions in both rials and informally but more commonly in tomans. A toman is worth 10 rials.
If passed by parliament and approved by lawmakers, Iran’s Central Bank would in effect devalue the rial and rename it as toman.
The bank would have two years to create the new toman currency, returning a currency name that has not been officially used since the 1930s.
Pedestrians walk on a sidewalk in eastern Tehran, Iran, August 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran’s rial has been battered by increasing US sanctions on the country since US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers over a year ago. On Wednesday, the rial traded 116,500 to $1. At the time of the 2015 nuclear deal, the rial traded 32,000 to the dollar.
— AP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
