TEHRAN (AP) – Iran’s currency fell to a record low on Sunday, plunging to 613,500 to the dollar, as its people celebrated the Persian New Year.
On Sunday, people were trying to exchange rials for foreign currency in Tehran, but most were closed due to the Nowruz holidays. The exchange rate strongly affects other markets, including housing and rentals. The price was IRR590,000 to the dollar on March 18, the last workday before the holiday. Many Iranians have seen their life savings evaporate as the local currency has depreciated. Today, it’s worth about one-twentieth as much as it was in 2015.
Since then, it’s fallen from IRR32,000 to the dollar to the hundreds of thousands. In February 2023, it briefly reached a nadir of IRR600,000 to the dollar, and since then has not risen above IRR439,000.
