Iran’s currency drops to a record low of 1,500,000 rials to the US dollar today, according to several Iranian currency tracking websites, weeks after protests sparked by the rial’s dwindling value rocked the country.
Protests over economic grievances began in late December but turned into a mass movement against the Islamic Republic, with huge street demonstrations for several days from January 8 – the day the shutdown was imposed.The recent decline follows sharp fluctuations since late December, when the currency’s plunge helped spark protests in Tehran and other cities, which have increasingly taken on a broader political dimension.
In response, the government has proposed new relief measures after moving to restrict access to subsidized foreign exchange used for importing basic goods-a system critics argue has created market distortions and rent-seeking while failing to control inflation.
President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration has signaled it will shift support toward households, including a proposed monthly electronic credit or coupon scheme aimed at cushioning low-income families from price rises as the subsidy regime is rolled back.
Iran’s economy has been hit by years of sanctions and chronic inflation, and many Iranians turn to hard currency and gold as stores of value during bouts of political and economic uncertainty.
