Two-minute read
Since the establishment of the regime, Iran’s economy has been plagued by spiraling inflation and the erosion of its national currency. What should have been the Central Bank’s core responsibility—protecting monetary stability—has instead become a glaring symbol of systemic failure. Compared to regional peers that managed to rein in inflation, Iran under the clerical regime has descended into repeated cycles of crisis.
Mohammadreza Farzin’s Troubled Tenure
When Mohammadreza Farzin replaced Ali Salehabadi as the head of Iran’s Central Bank in January 2023, regime analysts gave the impression that he would restore calm to the foreign exchange market. Instead, his policies of injecting currency into the market failed to deliver sustainable stability. The toman collapsed from around 44,000 to over 72,000 per dollar, at times approaching 100,000. This freefall intensified inflation and devastated public purchasing power.
Inflation reached unprecedented levels under Farzin’s watch. Official figures put annual inflation at 47.6 percent and point-to-point inflation at 55.5 percent in early 2023, though independent estimates placed it above 60 percent. Former regime Central Bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati criticized the 43 percent surge in money printing in 2022, calling it the main driver of both currency collapse and inflation.
#Iran's 'Ghost Airlines': How Regime Insiders Plunder Billions While the Nation's Economy Cratershttps://t.co/BH5qEkv3sr
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 4, 2025
Inflation’s Impact on Everyday Life
The consequences have been devastating for ordinary citizens. A million tomans in early 2023 is today worth little more than 380,000 tomans—over a 60 percent loss in purchasing power. As John Maynard Keynes once observed, inflation acts as a hidden confiscation of wealth, and in Iran this has been accompanied by explosive monetary growth. Liquidity rose from 6,337 trillion tomans in January 2023 to nearly 10,000 trillion by March 2025, a 58 percent increase. That means the regime was effectively printing an additional 4.8 trillion tomans every day.
The regime touts economic growth as proof of success, yet official growth figures—around 4 percent—stem largely from discounted oil sales to China, not genuine productivity. Meanwhile, inflation has neutralized any positive effect, leaving real living standards in decline. The promise of “social justice,” also enshrined in law, has been disregarded as inequality widens under the clerical rule.
A Politicized Central Bank
Farzin’s record is also marked by political maneuvering. Despite formal bans on new appointments during the transition to the new government in 2024, he issued over 15 appointments, many tied to political factions such as Saeed Jalili’s allies. These last-minute moves underscore how the Central Bank has been politicized, serving factional interests rather than national stability.
Even his explanations for the rial’s collapse—blaming social media channels—highlight the regime’s loss of credibility and control.
Pezeshkian’s confession: Iran’s economy in freefall, society on the brink of eruption https://t.co/HVrpJgh818
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 11, 2025
A Systemic Failure Under the Clerical Regime
The Central Bank’s failures are not isolated mistakes but a direct result of governance under the mullahs’ rule. Inflation continues to erode livelihoods, the rial remains in freefall, and trust in state institutions has collapsed. In the words of critics, the Central Bank has lost its mission entirely: it has neither preserved the value of the national currency nor controlled inflation.
The economic suffering endured by the Iranian people is not merely the result of technical mismanagement but of a political system that prioritizes survival of the regime over the well-being of its citizens.