{"id":348824,"date":"2026-10-17T12:47:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T11:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348824"},"modified":"2026-10-17T12:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T11:47:52","slug":"tehran-tightens-its-grip-as-irans-financial-crisis-deepens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/tehran-tightens-its-grip-as-irans-financial-crisis-deepens\/","title":{"rendered":"Tehran Tightens Its Grip as Iran\u2019s Financial Crisis Deepens\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Crowds
Crowds check dollar and euro rates at a Tehran currency exchange as Iran\u2019s rial comes under pressure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s clerical dictatorship is responding to its worsening financial crisis not with evidence of restored confidence, but with an expanding web of emergency interventions: selling dollars, restricting cryptocurrency markets, pursuing exporters for missing foreign currency, tightening pressure on troubled banks and trying to prevent savings from fleeing into gold and dollar-linked assets.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The regime presents these measures as signs of control. Its own media tell a less reassuring story.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In early October, the Central Bank launched a $2 billion intervention after the dollar surged toward 270,000 tomans. <\/span>Tasnim later acknowledged<\/span><\/a> that selling currency had produced only a temporary retreat and argued that increasing supply alone could not solve the problem.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dollars for Everyone\u2014Except Those Who Cannot Afford Them<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Central Bank then tried another extraordinary measure: allowing every Iranian over 18 <\/span>to buy up to $10,000<\/span><\/a> through selected banks using a national ID.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The policy was presented as a way to draw demand away from the open market. But it immediately exposed another contradiction inside the regime. Tehran MP Mehdi Koochakzadeh pointed out<\/a> in parliament that buying the full allocation required roughly 2.5 billion tomans\u2014an amount far beyond the reach of ordinary Iranians already struggling with basic living costs. Even Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said he was surprised when he learned of the scheme and questioned why it was being implemented.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What officials advertise as broad public access to foreign currency therefore functions merely as another channel through which those with capital can protect themselves from the currency crisis.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Why the Iranian Regime Chose\u200c War and #Economic<\/a> Siege Over an Ideal Deal
by @HakamianMahmoud<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/Dxg60oscz5<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) August 26, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n