Tehran, Iran – Iran’s currency is falling significantly again as European powers try to push forward to revive UN sanctions on the country amid the fear of diplomacy and the war with Israel and the United States.
The US dollar reached a price of over 106 million rill in Tehran’s open currency market on Monday.
The Iranian government and central banks once again stated that the sudden decline in the currencies of the countries that fought countries were not due to a decline in economic activity, but rather a reflection of a psychological response to the deterioration of political conditions.
France, Germany and the UK are the remaining European parties in Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, sparking a “snapback” mechanism that could automatically revive UN sanctions lifted in exchange for curbs in Iran’s nuclear programme.
European allies are currently closing a one-month deadline for Iran to negotiate a contract that will effectively postpone snapbacks within a year.
Conditions include resuming negotiations with the United States, allowing UN inspectors to access nuclear sites, and accounting for 408.6kg (900.8lbs) of highly enriched uranium from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran has long argued that its nuclear program is peaceful, but they have said they cannot meet it as Western allies demand conditions that must be the outcome of negotiations rather than the starting point.
Hardline, a lawmaker from Iran’s parliament, has drafted a law that cuts off all cooperation with the IAEA if Iran withdraws from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and sanctions are restored.
IAEA inspectors were allowed to oversee fuel renewals at Bucher nuclear power plant in southern Iran this week, but they were unable to access further as Tehran blows up the world’s nuclear watchdogs to host Israeli and the US strikes in June.
Tehran also said that there is no legal basis for European powers to launch a snapback process as the US torpedoed its landmark nuclear deal by unilaterally withdrawing in 2018 and imposing severe sanctions on Iran.
These sanctions, imposed by US President Donald Trump during his first tenure in the White House, expanded by President Joe Biden, and again expanded into a second term by Trump, have gradually strengthened its nuclear efforts, and now it has increased uranium by 60%.
Iranian authorities also tried to reach a coordinated position with China and Russia, other signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal opposed to snapbacks.
Foreign Ministers of the three countries issued a joint statement on Monday. It said that “default is legally and procedurally flawed” because the move by Europeans violates a resolution by the UNSC that underpins the nuclear agreement. They said the parties must address the underlying causes of the situation and address “abandoning sanctions, threats of force.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragut on Monday said that European powers have betrayed the UNSC mission and are turning it into “a tool of coercion rather than a guardian of global security.”
“The urgent task before us is to provide the necessary basis for restoring international law and successfully diplomacy based on it,” he wrote in X’s post.
The presidents of Iran, China and Russia met on Monday at the top of the Shanghai Cooperation Agency, a city in northern China. Iranian President Masuud Pezeshkian reportedly had a two-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Crisis at home
Despite the Western deadline, no breakthroughs are visible. Since the end of the 12-day war in June, more strike threats against Iran have been continued by Israel and the United States.
The negative reaction of Tehran’s currency markets shows concern over the potential impact of resurgent UN sanctions on the economy, which have already been hit by years of severe sanctions imposed by Washington.
Inflation rates remain above 35% in Iran, one of the highest Irans in the world, and UN sanctions deepen the country’s segregation only from international markets, making it more difficult to sell oil and other exports.
After decades of mismanagement and sanctions, Iran is also fighting multiple crises across the country as a mountain of external pressure.
Tehran, cities, towns and villages across the country have experienced daily power-outs for months as aging and inefficient infrastructure fails to keep up with demand in the summer heat. The suspension wanted citizens and shamed the industry’s injuries that were damaged by sanctions.
The bustling capital and the vast regions of Iran are also facing a water crisis. This has been attributed to chronic non-control and overuse of water resources, in addition to intensifying droughts, which have become increasingly important in recent years.
Since the end of the 12-day war with Israel, internet connections have been patched considerably slower than usual, with most international apps and websites remaining blocked by the state.
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) networks are significantly confused, especially in Tehran and by provinces. However, authorities have not elaborated on how it can protect against potential Israeli attacks, or how long the confusion is expected to stay.
