The US dollar passed 1.81 million rials on Iran’s open market on Wednesday, rising nearly 8% in a single day as the country’s economic crisis worsened under the strain of maritime blockade, stalled diplomacy and mounting pressure on households.
The euro and pound also rose sharply, passing 2.11 million rials and 2.44 million rials respectively.
Gold prices also climbed, with the benchmark Emami coin rising about 6.5% to 2.08 billion rials, reflecting the role of gold as a common store of value for Iranians trying to protect savings from the rial’s decline.
The surge comes as the US blockade of Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz remains in place despite President Donald Trump’s extension of a temporary ceasefire with Tehran earlier this month.
Uncertainty over talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic, Tehran’s insistence on continuing its nuclear and missile programs and support for regional proxy groups, and the broader “neither war nor peace” situation have pushed Iran’s economy into deeper instability.
On April 28, Trump said the Islamic Republic had informed Washington it was in a “state of collapse” and wanted the Strait of Hormuz blockade lifted.
The Wall Street Journal later reported, citing US officials, that Trump had instructed aides to prepare for a prolonged maritime blockade of Iran.
Cost of living crisis
The currency jump follows weeks of worsening economic conditions inside Iran.
On February 25, the final working day before the war began, the dollar stood at 1.65 million rials, while the euro was 1.95 million rials and the pound 2.24 million rials on the open market.
Messages sent to Iran International in recent days point to a rapidly worsening cost-of-living crisis, with viewers reporting mass layoffs, sharp increases in basic goods, medicine shortages, food insecurity and inability to pay rent.
The internet blackout, now stretching into its third month, has added to the pressure by cutting off online work, e-commerce and freelance income for millions of Iranians.
One doctor told Iran International that many patients could no longer afford their medicines, citing seizure medication whose price had more than tripled even though some patients need two or three packs each month.
A former worker at the Marvdasht petrochemical complex in Fars province said he had been laid off two months ago and had reduced his household’s food consumption to one meal a day.
“I have an elderly mother and I am ashamed before her,” he said. “We have reduced our food consumption to one meal a day, and even that is barely manageable. I have not paid rent either. The situation is terrible.”
On Tuesday, Mohsen Zanganeh, a member of parliament’s planning and budget committee, said in a post on X that during a meeting on Iran’s postwar economic situation, one participant warned that the country was nearing “economic collapse.”
