The Iranian rial is continuing to plummet to record lows against the US dollar with the exchange rate approaching the 400,000 rial mark on the free market amid nationwide dollar-buying panic.
As a result, families are struggling to buy food and other goods and the rial has lost around 20% of its value since September alone when protests broke out across the country following the death in custody of a young woman who had been arrested for allegedly breaching the country's strict Islamic dress code.
The ongoing antigovernment protests have become a popular revolt by Iranians from all walks of society, posing one of the biggest challenges to the country’s clerical establishment since the 1979 Iranian revolution that led to the establishment of the current Islamic Republic.
The government subsidised official exchange rate for importing some essential products is ten times lower than the black market exchange rate - the actual exchange rate also called open market rate that most accurately reflects how many rials it takes to buy one US dollar.
The rate is facing pressure from multiple fronts, as efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal have stalled and the US and European Union have imposed further sanctions on Tehran for its crackdown on the demonstrators and its decision to supply Russia with drones.
Traders say the government's scrambling to contain a currency crisis has further exacerbated panic-buying of hard-to-find euro and dollar amid political uncertainty.
The officially reported inflation rate in the country is 44%, but actual inflation, particularly in food items, has exceeded 80% as of November 2022.
