Iran central bank chief says currency weakness ‘temporary’

Iran's central bank governor, Abdolnaser Hemmati, said on Monday that the slide in the rial is temporary. Speaking in remarks aired on state TV, he argued that the price moves in foreign exchange are fluctuations and expected the situation to improve. Business Recorder reported that the currency has shed nearly 10 per cent over the past fortnight, after an earlier plunge early in the war.

The rial traded above 2 million to the US dollar on the black market, compared with about 1.7 million before the war began. Hemmati put much of the economic strain down to American political propaganda and said Iran would not abandon its course over short-term swings. Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to unveil a fresh round of economic pressure while Washington maintains its blockade of Iranian Gulf ports and the strategic Strait of Hormuz.