Farzin Announced Direct and Exclusive Dollar Buying and Selling by the Central Bank

In a context where the free and state currency market in Iran is facing severe instability, the head of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic has announced a decision to monopolize the 'buying and selling of dollars' by the Central Bank, despite opposition from the Parliament. According to Iranian media, Mohammad Reza Farzin, the head of the Central Bank, labeled exporters who do not return their 'export currency' as 'violators' and stated, 'We have formed a committee in the Central Bank' to address all these violations to ensure that export currencies return to the country. This senior monetary and banking official implicitly acknowledged the failure of previous policies of this institution, stating: 'The Iran Currency and Gold Exchange Center' was established to 'shape the exchange rate' and to meet the country's currency needs with that currency, but the 'signals' given to the market are from the 'illegal currency market exchange rate.' The Iranian currency market has experienced more instability in recent months compared to the same period in previous months, reaching an exchange rate of '60,000 tomans' per US dollar in Esfand 1401, and despite extensive efforts by state institutions to inject currency into the free market, this rate is currently traded in the range of '50,000 to 55,000 tomans.' Meanwhile, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also stated in this session that from the Parliament's perspective, 'the country's currency responsibility and the price of coins in the market and maintaining the value of the national currency' are inherent missions of the 'Central Bank.' Qalibaf announced that the Central Bank Governor's ignorance of some statistics regarding currency revenues 'is unacceptable,' adding that setting fixed prices 'contradicts the law' to 'create stability in the market.' In another part of his speech today, Mohammad Reza Farzin stated: 'From now on, the Central Bank will purchase currency directly' and 'will also sell it directly,' and accordingly, 'we will eliminate intermediaries.' Despite previously announced promises to stabilize the currency market and prevent widespread monetary turmoil, the Islamic Republic's government, nearly two and a half years into Ibrahim Raisi's administration, has not only failed to achieve success but has also seen exchange rates against the rial increase by nearly 100 percent during this period, repeatedly diminishing the 'value of the national currency.' Continuing efforts to control the currency market; the head of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic: entering the unofficial currency market is 'equivalent to money laundering.'