Understanding the Rial’s Freefall

by Djavad Salehi-Isfahani The sharp drop in the value of the rial in the last two weeks has created much excitement in Iran and abroad, but mostly for the wrong reasons. In the parallel (or free) market for foreign currencies, the… Continue Reading

Current Economic Unrest Unlikely to Alter Iran’s Nuclear Calculus

via IPS News As Iran faces economic unrest, discussion is intensifying over the impact sanctions are having on Iran’s economy. But experts doubt that the current situation portends the end of the Iranian regime or Iranian capitulation to Israeli and… Continue Reading

Panic in Tehran

The Iranian rial has been in free fall for the last few days. Inflation has been ramping up for the last few months as the rial has lost more than 50 percent of its value over the last year. Unemployment… Continue Reading

Hawks on Iran

Lobe Log publishes Hawks on Iran every Friday. Our posts highlight militaristic commentary and confrontational policy recommendations about Iran from a variety of sources including news articles, think tanks and pundits. John Bolton, Mark Wallace & Kristen Silverberg, Wall Street… Continue Reading

The Drama of Iran’s Erratic Rial

By Kevan Harris via the United States Institute of Peace What are the primary reasons that the Iranian rial has lost half of its value against the U.S. dollar in just one year? Iran’s currency was valued at about 10,000 rials… Continue Reading