Currencies Down in Tehran

EghtesadOnline: Forex rates declined in Tehran’s free market on Tuesday apparently due to guarded optimism over the new round nuclear talks in Vienna.

News ID: ۷۸۷۵۶۱

05 January 2022

The dollar was quoted at 291,800 rials posting more than 1% decline compared with the previous day's close. The currency plunged 4.4% in the Central Bank of Iran's regulated market to buy 259,980 rials.

Bank-affiliated exchange shops sold the greenback at 269,900 rials, slightly lower than Monday’s 273,953 rials.

According to Eghtesadnews, the euro bought 330,990 rials down 1.07% on Monday. Melli Exchange, affiliated to Bank Melli Iran, tagged the European currency at 305,757 rials, unchanged compared to the day earlier.

The UAE dirham lost 0.85% to buy 79,500 rials. Fluctuations in dirham rates normally affect other currencies in Tehran and other cities. It is said that the dirham rate to the rial in Dubai determines the dollar rate for the next trading day in Iran.

Market observers have voiced optimism that the complex talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna that resumed on Monday would likely to bear fruit. This has prompted traders to exercise extra caution the outcome being that demand for currency has declined in the market.

Eghtesadnews predicted that the dollar could well decline in coming days to 282,000 rials.

The talks to revive the historic 2015 nuclear deal have entered a new phase where “contents” of a potential agreement are up for discussions, a senior Iranian diplomat said Monday. The US under Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and imposed a tough economic blockade on Iran to force Tehran to agree to a new agreement, which was rejected.

Talks between Iran and the remaining five countries in the deal (China, Russia, France, Germany and the UK) restarted in Vienna  in April to restore the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under which Iran limited  its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

The agreement has faltered since the US pulled out and Iran scaled down its commitments in response to the unilateral American sanctions.

Gold Also Slips

Gold coin prices also fell Tuesday under the influence of  forex rates. The Emami gold coin gave up 1.35% and was traded at 129 million rials.

The Half Bahar Azadi coin lost more than 1.72% to reach 66.5 million rials while the Quarter Bahar Azadi slipped 2.48% to close the day at 37.4 million rials.