Iranian rial falls to new historic low: over 2.5 million to the dollar

Iran’s currency fell on Tuesday to its lowest level in history, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for one US dollar, as Al Jazeera reports. The latest fall came just 27 days after the rial had touched the previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on September 2. The currency has been hitting new records continuously since the start of the war in February, when the dollar traded at around 1.7 million rials on the open market.

Pressure on Iran’s economy is deepening in parallel with the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of global oil supply passed before the war. While diplomatic channels remain open, markets continue to price in the cost of uncertainty on key energy routes.

The Iranian government has not announced new measures to stabilize the exchange rate, while analysts warn that any further escalation could push the currency toward an even greater fall.