South Korean won listed for trade in Iran’s official exchange market

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has added South Korean won (KRW) to the list of foreign currencies tradable in its official exchange market.

News ID: ۲۰۰۱۷۰۰

06 August 2025

CBI’s Center for Exchange of Currency and Gold (ICE) said on Tuesday that it had opened a new platform for KRW to allow exporters and importers to trade the currency.

ICE spokesman Asghar Balsini said that the KRW will have an independent symbol in the market along with seven other highly traded currencies, namely the euro, US dollar, UAE dirham, Chinese yuan, Russian ruble, Japanese yen, and Indian rupee.

Balisi said Iran had imported $580 million worth of goods and commodities from South Korea in the year to late March and another $80 million in the quarter to late June, adding that the launch of trading in won in the ICE would help businesses working with partners in the East Asian country.

ICE was set up in early 2023 mainly to allow the CBI to have a better control over the exchange of foreign currencies and how they are allocated to various government and public needs.

The center offers incentives to exporters to supply their proceeds to importers in the ICE at rates that are acceptable to the CBI.

It also enables the CBI to allocate hard currency at heavily subsidized prices to imports of basic goods and medicine.

Currency prices on the ICE are up to 20% lower than rates used in the unofficial exchange market.

ICE’s website has yet to officially announce its daily trading price for the KRW, although the currency was worth 670 Iranian rials in the unofficial market in Tehran on Tuesday.

Balsini said trade at the ICE had exceeded the equivalent of $9.893 billion since the start of the current calendar year on March 21./isna