Iran’s currency fell to a new record low on Sunday to 600,000 rials to the dollar as the effects of anti-government protests across the country and the breakdown of the 2015 nuclear deal continue to take their toll on the economy.
Iranians have formed long lines outside exchange houses in recent days in hopes of acquiring dwindling dollars. Many have seen their life savings evaporate as the local currency has deteriorated. Inflation was 53.4% in January, up from 41.4% two years ago, according to Iran’s statistics center.
The dire economic conditions have contributed to widespread anger against the government, but have also forced many Iranians to focus on putting food on the table rather than engaging in risky political activism amid a fierce crackdown on dissent.
The rial was trading at 32,000 to the dollar when Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The deal lifted Western sanctions in exchange for strict limits on Iranian nuclear activities.
The deal unraveled when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. and reinstated sanctions. Iran responded by increasing its uranium enrichment, and now has enough for “several” atomic weapons if it decides to develop them, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but experts say it had a nuclear weapons program until 2003.
President Jose Biden’s administration supports reinstating the nuclear pact, but negotiations stalled last year. Tehran has further angered Western countries by supplying armed drones to Russia that have been used in the invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Iran has seen waves of anti-government protests since the death in September of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.
The protests quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the rulers, posing a major challenge to their four-decade-old rule. Iran blames the unrest on foreign powers, without providing evidence.