WarSclerotic

Iran closes commercial hub as currency crumbles | The Times of Israel.

Tehran’s main bazaar shuttered for security reasons after rial hits new low

A bazaar in Tehran in 2011 (photo credit: CC-BY Kamshots, Flickr)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Tehran’s main bazaar has been closed as authorities tighten controls trying to halt the fall of Iran’s currency after it hit a record low.

The semi-official Mehr news agency says the bazaar — the traditional commercial hub in Iran’s capital — was closed for security reasons on Wednesday.

Iranian officials have faced increasing public anger over the plummeting rial and rising prices, blamed partly on Western sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The Mehr report quoted Ahmad Karimi Isfahani, a bazaar official, as denying reports that merchants staged a protest.

Police are patrolling streets where freelance money dealers work. Exchange shops are closed.

The rial hit 34,500 against the U.S. dollar Tuesday on the unofficial street trading rate. Two years ago, it was close to 10,000 rials for the dollar.

Washington on Monday pointed to drop in the rial’s value as proof that sanctions on the country were working.

The West has leveled restrictions, described by the US state department as “punishing,” against Iran’s oil and banking sectors in a bid to halt the country’s nuclear program.

On Tuesday, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters that the country would overcome the sanctions, but that restrictions on the banking industry were taking a toll.

“Worse than the oil sanction are the sanctions on banking transactions. If oil is sold, the payment cannot be transferred,” he said, adding that the country was finding ways around a blockade on selling its oil.

The Times of Israel contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on October 3, 2012 at 2:06 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.