The Price of the Dollar in Iran Surpasses 5,000 Tomans

According to Iranian media, the price of each US dollar in Iran's free currency market surpassed 5,000 tomans on Monday, reaching at least 5,025 tomans for the first time. Despite earlier announcements that the exchange rate of the dollar was on a 'downward' trend in the early days of the year, ISNA reported on Monday that the price of the dollar in the free market exceeded 5,025 tomans. Several media outlets also reported buying and selling dollars at prices above 5,050 tomans. According to ISNA, the exchange rate in the free market had undergone 'changes' since Sunday, April 5, and continues to do so. Currently, the bank dollar is offered at around 4,800 tomans in the free market, while the actual dollar or free dollar is 5,023 tomans, which is considered the highest price for the dollar so far. This price increase has also occurred for the euro, which has reached 6,170 tomans in the free market. The prices of various currencies, especially the dollar and euro, fluctuated significantly in the last month of the previous year, and according to ISNA, there were many restrictions on sales, causing travelers heading abroad to face difficulties in obtaining the necessary currency. The new record price of the dollar in Iran comes a day after the Central Bank of Iran announced that the value of 16 currencies, including the US dollar, had decreased compared to the last working day of the previous year. According to this report, 17 other currencies, including the euro and British pound, increased, while the prices of six currencies remained stable. The prices of foreign currencies in the Iranian market have been highly volatile in recent months, and despite government promises and actions against currency market brokers, the prices of foreign currencies, especially the dollar, have risen. Following the increase in the dollar price to the threshold of 5,000 tomans, the Central Bank of Iran implemented three financial measures to stabilize the dollar price. These included temporarily raising the interest rate on some bank deposits to 20%, issuing currency-based deposit certificates at rates of 4% and 4.5%, and pre-selling Bahar Azadi coins as part of the Central Bank's short-term programs. The sale of currency was also restricted to only providing it to travelers abroad with travel documents, as per the Central Bank's directives. Alongside these programs, the police have arrested dozens of individuals accused of illegal currency trading, and at least 10 currency exchange offices have been shut down. Additionally, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran announced that in the previous month, 1,300 accounts related to what he called 'disruptors' of the currency market, with a balance of 37 billion tomans, were blocked. According to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, '27 disruptors of the currency market' were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence and police forces. The Tehran prosecutor had previously reported the arrest of 27 individuals in connection with the rising currency prices. Prior to that, the police had announced the arrest of over 90 'currency brokers' and the closure of 10 exchange offices. The actions of the Tehran prosecutor's office and the police come amid warnings from many analysts that while 'security measures' may prevent currency prices from rising in the short term, they will have no long-term effect. They argue that despite 'security measures in the previous government,' currency prices continued to rise.