Iran’s rial hit a record low of more than 2 million per US dollar on the open market on August 24 as Washington prepared to announce tougher economic sanctions against Tehran.
Currency-tracking websites cited in the source showed the rial crossing the 2 million-per-dollar level before a scheduled announcement by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Bessent wrote in the Financial Times that the United States was preparing what he called the “single greatest financial offensive” against an adversary. The source did not provide an exact time for his announcement.
US sanctions on Iran date back to 1979, according to the US State Department. A Congressional Research Service report describes the measures as among Washington’s most extensive sanctions regimes.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, based in Tehran, said Iran “cannot continue with war forever,” while other Iranian officials continued to reject dialogue, according to the source.
Read: Iran Sanctions: Tehran Says New US Economic Push Will Fail
Regional diplomacy is also intensifying around the Strait of Hormuz. Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al-Busaidi is due in Tehran on August 25 for talks on the waterway and wider regional developments.
Iran’s state-controlled Persian Gulf Strait Authority warned that vessels violating transit rules could face detention or confiscation.
Read: Iran Condemns New US Sanctions Ahead of Monday Announcement
Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir was also due in Iran on August 24, Iranian state media reported, citing Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei.
