Iran’s currency market has been in turmoil, with the US dollar exchange rate surging past 65,000 tomans, sparking renewed concerns among the public and economic actors. While elements affiliated with the government of Ebrahim Raisi claim the rate will drop again, critics have attributed the crisis to the |government’s vacuity.”
Mehrad Ebad, a member of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, stated that the currency crisis and market volatility are not the result of media reporting, but rather “vacuity” rooted in the “nature of Iran’s economy.”
“The problem lies in our tendency to seek an internal scapegoat during crises, disregarding the fact that both the private and public sectors have contributed to the current predicament,” Ebadi said. “Moreover, it’s essential to acknowledge that governments have progressively restricted the autonomy of the private sector over time, leading to a loss of conducive conditions for innovation and productivity among its stakeholders.”
In contrast, Youssef Hoseini, the head of the Currency Committee at the Iran Chamber of Commerce, has defended the government’s policies, claiming that by following the guidance of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the country’s economy and various markets, including the foreign exchange market, can be well-controlled, potentially even pushing the dollar rate back down to 60,000 tomans or lower.
Hoseini argued that regional conflicts and tensions can impact Iran’s economy, and “the enemy” is making efforts to undermine the country’s economic situation.
#Iran News in Brief
According to a member of the Iranian regime’s Chamber of Commerce, Ebrahim Raisi’s government is spreading misinformation to alleviate #currency market instability. 1/ pic.twitter.com/cR7Qum52oj— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 8, 2023
Similarly, Ramin Pouladgar, a member of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, attributed the limited increase in the dollar rate to “political and regional events” that are “certainly controllable and will subside.”
Pouladgar said, “Unfortunately, some experts and critics, whether intentionally or unintentionally, have fallen prey to the wave created by the speculators and profiteers’ advertisements, predicting a range of 80,000 to 100,000 tomans for the dollar. However, the sole reason for the limited increase in the dollar’s price is political and regional events, which will surely be manageable and mitigated.”
While the regime has been grappling with socioeconomic crises for many years, it has simultaneously initiated regional adventures to export its problems abroad. However, the geostrategic benefits of these tactics remain elusive, and now it is confronted with a mounting avalanche of increasingly complex repercussions of its own making.
