Tehran:Iran’s currency fell on Wednesday to an all-time low as former President Donald Trump was on the verge of clinching the U.S. presidency again, signalling new challenges ahead for Tehran as it remains locked in the wars raging in the Middle East.
The rial traded at 703,000 rials to the dollar, traders in Tehran said. The rate could still change throughout the day. Iran’s Central Bank could flood the market with more hard currencies in an attempt to improve the rate, as it has done in the past. The slide comes as the rial already faces considerable woes over its sharp slide in value.
In 2015, at the time of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, the rial was at 32,000 to $1. On July 30, the day that Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in and started his term, the rate was 584,000 to $1. Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, sparking years of tensions between the countries that persist today.
Iran's economy has struggled for years under crippling international sanctions over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, which now enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels. Pezeshkian, elected after a helicopter crash killed hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi in May, came to power on a promise to reach a deal to ease Western sanctions.
However, Iran's government has for weeks been trying to downplay the effect on Tehran of whoever won Tuesday's election in the United States. That stance continued on Wednesday with a brief comment from Fatemeh Mohajerani, a spokeswoman for Pezeshkian's administration.