Iran’s currency plummeted to a record low on Wednesday, dropping to 1.8 million against the dollar following the brutal US-Israeli war, coinciding with uncertainty over the fragile truce and rising energy prices worldwide.
The currency began a sharp descent two days ago after several weeks of artificial stability. During the initial weeks of the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic – which broke out on February 28 – the rial remained relatively steady, largely due to a total halt in imports and minimal market trading.
Hundreds of textile workers have been laid off, according to Iran’s Shargh newspaper. According to ISNA, in the last two days, the rial has plummeted by 15 percent.
The drop comes as Washington continues to enforce an aggressive blockade on Iranian ports, seizing multiple vessels recently and prompting Tehran to respond similarly. Iran has repeatedly warned that it will confront this blockade and use military action if necessary.
A high-ranking Iranian security source told Press TV on Wednesday that Tehran will soon use “practical and unprecedented military action” if Washington’s “piracy” does not come to an end.
“Iran's armed forces – operating under the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters as the war command – believe that patience has limits and that a punishing response is necessary if Washington maintains its illegal naval blockade around the Strait of Hormuz,” the source added.
“The restraint shown by armed forces so far has been intended to give diplomacy a chance and allow the US to … accept Iran's conditions for ending the war permanently … This pause was meant to provide [US] President Donald Trump an opportunity to pull the US out of the current quagmire it finds itself in. However, if US obstinacy and delusions continue and Iran's conditions are rejected, the enemy should soon expect a different kind of response to the ongoing naval blockade,” the source stressed.
After vowing to maintain the blockade throughout the ceasefire, Washington imposed new sanctions this week targeting 35 individuals and entities linked to Iran's banking sector, in an effort to ratchet up pressure.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Friday that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned multiple digital wallets linked to the Iranian state, amounting to over $340 million in cryptocurrency.
Around two weeks before the US-Israeli war began, Bessent admitted that Washington engineered a dollar shortage in Iran in order to pull down the currency and trigger unrest ahead of the January riots across the country.