The incident of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi's death, due to a helicopter crash while flying through a mountainous area surrounded by dense fog, has severely impacted the Iranian currency, causing it to plummet by more than 8 percent yesterday. The exchange rate of the dollar increased against the Iranian rial in the unofficial market following news of the uncertain fate of President Ibrahim Raisi due to the helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan Province, western Iran.
Since news of Raisi's accident broke, the dollar's price has risen from around 57,000 rials per dollar to over 62,000 rials in morning transactions on Monday. This drop in the rial comes just days after it had recovered against the dollar, with the exchange rate rising to nearly 70,000 rials per dollar amid recent tensions with Israel. However, it began to decline as tensions eased, dropping to 57,000 rials in the parallel market by Sunday morning.
The Iranian government has set an official exchange rate for the dollar at 42,000 rials per dollar since 2018. The Iranian rial is already facing significant pressure due to extremely high inflation exacerbated by ongoing U.S. sanctions imposed on Tehran during the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, which also led to a reduction in sales of some of Tehran's major exports, particularly oil and its products.
