Ishaq Jahangiri Announced the Single Exchange Rate for Dollar; "4200 Tomans from Tuesday"

The First Vice President of Iran announced after an extraordinary meeting of the government's economic headquarters for managing the currency market that "the dollar rate will be 4200 tomans from Tuesday, and other unofficial rates will be considered smuggling." Ishaq Jahangiri made this announcement on Monday night, April 20, at the end of the meeting chaired by Hassan Rouhani. According to the Iranian presidential website, he stated: "With this figure, the currency needed for all sectors will be provided through the Central Bank and exchange offices and banks under the control of the Central Bank." He said that "economic actors and the public should not have any concerns about securing their currency at this rate." According to Jahangiri, "the dollar rate from tomorrow (Tuesday) will be 4200 tomans for all economic actors and to meet all their legal and administrative needs, service needs of travelers, students, researchers, and scientists who need currency for their research work, and with this number, currency will be allocated to all the needs of the country through the Central Bank and exchange offices and banks under the control of the Central Bank." These statements come after two days of currency crisis in the country that raised the price of each US dollar to six thousand tomans. The First Vice President of Iran, referring to this turmoil, announced the "serious work" of the twelfth government "in the international arena," claiming that "we have agreed with various governments for billions of dollars to be financed to Iran, and more than 30 billion dollars of guarantees have even been issued at the government level in the name of the country's banks." Jahangiri claimed: "A large volume of foreign resources is moving towards the country, and in such circumstances, such changes in the exchange rate are very unnatural." The sudden increase in the dollar price began on April 18 and within three days, the price of this currency increased by about 900 tomans, reaching six thousand tomans. He further warned: "We do not recognize any exchange rate with other prices, and for us, any other unofficial currency price in the market will be considered smuggling from tomorrow." The First Vice President of Iran emphasized that if "another rate forms in the market, the judiciary and security forces will take action, and we will not recognize it." The sudden increase occurred after the end of the holidays. The price of the US dollar in the free market in Iran remained almost stable last February, but during the Nowruz holidays, it experienced a jump of 200 to 250 tomans. Some analysts consider the political outlook of Iran and the possibility of the United States exiting the nuclear agreement as influential factors that cannot be overlooked. Fereydoun Khavand, an economic analyst and university professor, mentioned in a note for Radio Farda on February 16, 2018, that several influential variables on the Iranian currency market are beyond the control of the Central Bank. According to Khavand, currency market players are watching the fate of the "JCPOA" and will consider the potential exit of the United States from this agreement as a warning sign for the further destabilization of the rial. However, there have been contradictory analyses regarding the increase in the dollar price in the past two days from government officials and reformist political activists. Hesameddin Ashna, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani, implicitly accused Saudi Arabia of influencing the Iranian currency market through the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, some reformists, including Mostafa Tajzadeh, have implicitly attributed this event to the actions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mohammad Taghi Karrubi, the son of Mehdi Karrubi, also wrote on his Twitter page: "The increase in such currency prices is not solely due to economic consequences. It seems that significant events are unfolding behind the scenes, and if the government cannot manage them, it will soon come to an end." Some Telegram channels have reported that a significant portion of the dollars held by economic entities affiliated with the IRGC has left the country, affecting the dollar price. Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, head of the Economic Commission of Parliament, stated on April 6 without providing details that "more than 30 billion dollars of currency has left the country" in the last months of last year. The newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad has identified "the lack of political certainty" as one of the most important reasons for the increase in the dollar price. Jahangiri's emphasis on dealing with "smuggled currency" comes at a time when many analysts have previously stated that while "security measures" may prevent currency price increases in the short term, they will have no long-term effect, just as currency prices continued to rise despite "security measures in the previous government" and in the last months of last year. Meanwhile, Abbas Abdi, a political activist, wrote on his Twitter that "as long as the government sets a price for the dollar, it does not matter whether it is 4200 tomans, 3200 tomans, or 6200 tomans. This path will not lead to results. Do not auction off the people's currency. It is foolishness." Following the sudden increase in currency prices in the last months of last year, law enforcement officials reported the arrest of dozens of "currency brokers." The public prosecutor of Tehran also announced that this institution had blocked 1,300 accounts, which he claimed belonged to "disruptors" of the currency market, with a balance of 37 billion tomans.