IFP Exclusive

Rouhani Gov’t Denies Rumours It’s Behind Currency Hikes

The Iranian president's chief of staff has rejected rumours that this week’s hike in the value of foreign currencies in Iranian markets was planned by the government as part of efforts to meet FATF guidelines, saying the government would not “play games” with people’s livelihood.

Speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting earlier this week, Mahmoud Vaezi said the government itself has been hit hard by a plunge in the Iranian rial’s value.

“The rise of dollar’s rate would place [immense] pressure on the government and it would never play with interests of the country and people’s livelihood,” he said.

Vaezi said the government is doing its best to decrease the currency’s price, as it will lead to a decrease in general prices of goods and make life easier for the government.

“Those who make such statements have political motives and are pursuing other goals,” he said.

Vaezi said the government keeps up advocating for the four bills proposed by the administration to get Iran out of the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) using arguments, as the Expediency Council is making its mind on a parliamentary bill on Iran’s accession to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

The US dollar crossed a threshold in Tehran this week, as its price increased to 135,000 rials, up from over 120,000 rials last week.

The hike came after Iran’s Expediency Council postponed for two weeks voting on the bill, which is one of four parliamentary bills required for Iran to get out of the anti-money laundering body’s blacklist.

Two of them have so far gone into effect and the fate of the last one, a bill amending Iran’s Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) law, is also in limbo.

The government is a staunch supporter of the FATF accession, believing the measure would smooth the path for Iran’s increased financial transactions with the world and allow the country’s financial sector to function more easily in the international economy.

Iran’s accession to the G7-created FATF has faced problems over concerns among some officials that the move could endanger Iran’s national security and economic interests.

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.

Recent Posts

Historic all-Women flight lands in Mashhad

For the first time in Iran's aviation history, a flight carrying an all-female crew and…

3 hours ago

Tehran Cyber Police shut down 40 Instagram accounts of harassers

Tehran’s Cyber Police Chief, Brigadier General Davood Moazzami Goudarzi, announced a crackdown on individuals causing…

5 hours ago

Qatar warns may stop gas shipments to EU amid Russia-Ukraine war

Doha will stop gas shipments to the EU if member states enforce new legislation on…

5 hours ago

UK armed forces struggling for recruits: Telegraph

At least 15,000 British soldiers left the country's Armed Forces between November 2023 and October…

5 hours ago

Nearly 85k Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine: Report

Journalists have identified the names of 84,761 Russian soldiers who died during the war in…

9 hours ago

US downs own warplane while bombing Yemen: Pentagon

The United States Navy has inadvertently shot down its own F/A-18 fighter jet in a…

10 hours ago