The logo of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has blocked over 9,200 accounts belonging to 454 people due to illegal or undeclared transactions of currency and digital currency.
According to a statement by the ministry on Saturday, the total amount of transactions was over 600,000 billion rials – or about $2 billion in today's exchange rates.
The statement did not provide any details about the accounts, nor did it say how much of the turnover was in digital currency and how much was in fiat money.
Several people active in the digital currency market have been arrested in Iran since last year. Iran’s cybercrime taskforce is part of the Organized Crime Investigation Center, affiliated with the intelligence organization of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
Iran’s currency has recently hit a four-month low against the US dollar as soaring bread prices created political and economic uncertainty in the country.
The US dollar is hovering over 300,000 rials in Tehran, one of its highest points since early January, when the currency was marginally recovering from previous lows on optimism over nuclear negotiations with the West. After talks in Vienna came to a standstill in mid-March, the currency began gradually losing its value again.