Irans currency hits new record low as war destroys countrys economy

Iran’s currency fell to a new record low on Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the US dollar in a stark reflection of how the war in the Middle East has steadily eroded the Iranian economy.The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept.2.

The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.The Iranian economy has been under duress for years in the face of international sanctions.But a US naval blockade on Iranian oil and new sanctions imposed since the start of the war have sent it into free fall.Meanwhile, Iran’s top diplomat said indirect negotiations with the United States aimed at reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz have become “more serious,” while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ chief spokesman Gen.

Hossein Mohebbi on Tuesday called on Americans to take to the streets and protest the conflict.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian media late on Monday that the “current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz,” the chokepoint of the war.Araghchi made the comments shortly before departing New York — where he attended last week’s gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly — and after meeting with Pakistani and Qatari mediators.Araghchi said the Qatari intermediaries were expected to soon engage with the US side.“They are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us,” Araghchi said.“If there is a response, the Qataris will convey it to us and a decision will be made in Tehran on that basis.”Officials, including from the US, have confirmed to The Associated Press that mediators are working with Iran and the US on trying to broker a deal to end the fighting and open the strait.The mediation efforts continue even after US President Donald Trump earlier this week spurned an Iranian proposal to reopen the strai...