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Iran’s currency fell to a new record low on Sunday, falling to 600,000 per dollar for the first time as the aftermath of nationwide anti-government protests and the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal continued to rock the economy.
In recent days, Iranians have lined up in long lines in front of exchange offices, hoping to acquire increasingly scarce dollars. Many saw their savings evaporate as the local currency depreciated. Inflation reached 53.4% in January compared to 41.4% two years ago, according to Iran’s statistical center.
Dire economic conditions have contributed to widespread dissatisfaction with the government, but have also forced many Iranians to focus on serving food to the table rather than risky political activities amid a brutal crackdown on dissent.
Iran’s currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar when it signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The agreement lifted international sanctions in exchange for severe restrictions and surveillance of its nuclear activities.
The agreement was derailed when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from it and reinstated tough sanctions. In response, Iran has increased its enrichment of uranium, and there is now enough for “few” nuclear weapons if it chooses to develop one, according to the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
Iran insists its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, but experts say it had a nuclear weapons program before 2003 and is developing breakthrough capabilities that could allow it to quickly build a nuclear weapon if it decides to do so. do. do.
The Biden administration supports a return to the 2015 deal, but negotiations stalled last year and appear to have stalled. Iran further angered Western countries by supplying Russia with combat drones that were used during its invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, waves of anti-government protests have swept across Iran following the September death of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was detained by police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.
The protests quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling Shia clerics, a major issue for their four decades of rule. Iran blamed the unrest on foreign powers, presenting it as a continuation of the sanctions without providing evidence.
The Trump administration had hoped that maximum sanctions would force Iran to make major concessions on its nuclear activities, ballistic missile program and military presence in the Middle East, but so far this has not happened.
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