As of Sunday, Oct. 4, the latest open-market rate we found is 2.723 million rials per U.S. dollar. Iran International reported the dollar traded there earlier on Oct. 4, “up 1.3% from the previous day.” On Saturday, Reuters carried a lower figure, about 2.688 million, and Iran International called the day’s rate a record low.
A timeline of the rial’s levels
Open-market rates per dollar; the first two are Fortune’s approximate figures.
- August 2025: around 920,000 rials.
- Start of 2026: near 1.5 million.
- Sept. 2: 2.2 million, a record low at the time (Fortune).
- Tuesday (Sept. 29 by our count): more than 2.5 million, a new record low among traders in Tehran (Fortune).
- Saturday, Oct. 3: the Reuters figure was “around 2.688 million rials,” up from 2.632 million Friday, per bon-bast.com, which Reuters calls a free-market tracking website; alanchand.com reported 2.695 million. Iran International said the euro crossed 3 million rials “for the first time.”
- Sunday, Oct. 4: 2.723 million (Iran International); the euro above 3.06 million.
The central bank’s dollar program
- Sept. 1: Iran International reported that Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said the bank was ready to put as much as $2 billion into the market.
- Wednesday (Sept. 30 by our count): Iran International: “The bank announced Wednesday that it planned to inject $2 billion in banknotes into the market.”
- Oct. 2: Another Iran International piece: “The first $1 billion tranche is being sold through banks.”
- Saturday, Oct. 3: Reuters said state television reported that banks “began selling up to $2 billion.”
- Sunday, Oct. 4: Iran International, citing Tasnim, said five banks were selling up to $10,000 to each adult at 2.57 million rials per dollar on the program’s second day. That is about 6% below the open-market rate above (our arithmetic).
Iran International reports that lawmaker Mehdi Kouchakzadeh criticized the program in an online parliamentary session. Reuters does not say how the rate moved after sales began.
The official rate
Iran International reports the central bank has raised its official rate “from about 137,000 to more than 174,000 tomans this year,” while “the open-market rate remains much higher.” A toman is ten rials, so that is about 1.74 million rials per dollar (our conversion).
What the fall means in arithmetic
Our arithmetic, from Fortune’s roughly 920,000 (Aug. 2025) and 2.723 million: the dollar costs about 196% more rials, and each rial buys about 66% less. Fortune’s “plunged about 170%” appears to describe the dollar’s price rise to 2.5 million, not the rial’s loss.
Inflation and one official explanation
Reuters cites “an inflation rate of more than 70 percent.” Fortune says “near 90%.” Iran International reports official September data: prices 89.8% higher than a year earlier, and average inflation over 12 months of 73.6%. The figures fit those two measures, but neither outlet names its own (our inference).
Mehdi Darabi, an aide to the central bank governor, blamed the decline partly on what he said were false predictions by U.S. officials of an economic collapse: “The enemy is using this to affect the exchange rate of our currency,” he told state TV, adding that the fall was temporary. That is his claim.
What we did not find
We did not find the size of Iran’s currency reserves or a statement on whether the dollar program replaces or adds to Hemmati’s Sept. 1 readiness offer.