Iran’s rial falls to record low as currency blows past 2 million per dollar

Iran’s national currency has crossed a grim psychological threshold. The rial hit approximately 2.2 million per US dollar on the informal market this week, marking a fresh record low for a currency that has been in freefall for years. To put that number in perspective: a single US dollar now buys more than two million rials on the street. A decade ago, the rate was closer to 30,000. A currency in freefall The decline has accelerated sharply in recent weeks. In late August, the rial was trading at roughly 2.02 million per dollar. By the end of the month, that figure had deteriorated to around 2.11 million. By early September, rates hovered near 2.14 to 2.15 million before pushing even higher this week. Iran’s Central Bank, meanwhile, maintains an official exchange rate of about 1.5 million rials per dollar. That creates a spread of roughly 40-45% between the government’s posted rate and what Iranians actually pay when they need dollars. What’s driving the collapse US sanctions remain the single largest structural headwind. The sanctions regime has progressively strangled Iran’s ability to export oil and access the global financial system, choking off the primary source of hard curre...