Iran approves plan to slash four zeros from currency

TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament on Sunday approved a plan to remove four zeros from the national currency, the rial, which has sharply depreciated as the country grapples with renewed sanctions.

Lawmakers passed the bill two months after a parliamentary commission revived the long-stalled proposal aimed at simplifying transactions, the legislature’s website said.

Under the plan, 10,000 current rials will be replaced by one new rial.

Both versions will circulate for up to three years, with the central bank given two years to launch the transition.

The rial has hit repeated record lows in recent days, according to black market trackers, amid the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran.

Britain, France and Germany — signatories to Iran’s moribund 2015 nuclear deal — last month triggered the “snapback” mechanism to restore the international sanctions over the Islamic republic’s non-compliance.

On Sunday, the rial was trading at about 1,115,000 to the US dollar, compared with around 920,000 when the plan was revived in early August.

The redenomination was first floated in 2019 but later shelved.

It still requires approval by the Guardian Council and the signature of President Masoud Pezeshkian to take effect.

In daily life, Iranians drop a zero from the rial and use the resulting figure, called the toman, for most transactions.