TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament on Sunday approved a plan to remove four zeros from the national currency, the rial, which has sharply depreciated as the country grapples with renewed sanctions.
Lawmakers passed the bill two months after a parliamentary commission revived the long-stalled proposal aimed at simplifying transactions, the legislature’s website said.
Under the plan, 10,000 current rials will be replaced by one new rial.
Both versions will circulate for up to three years, with the central bank given two years to launch the transition.
The rial has hit repeated record lows in recent days, according to black market trackers, amid the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran.
Britain, France and Germany — signatories to Iran’s moribund 2015 nuclear deal — last month triggered the “snapback” mechanism to restore the international sanctions over the Islamic republic’s non-compliance.
On Sunday, the rial was trading at about 1,115,000 to the US dollar, compared with around 920,000 when the plan was revived in early August.
The redenomination was first floated in 2019 but later shelved.
It still requires approval by the Guardian Council and the signature of President Masoud Pezeshkian to take effect.
In daily life, Iranians drop a zero from the rial and use the resulting figure, called the toman, for most transactions.
Iran approves plan to slash four zeros from currency
https://arab.news/zpgjm
Iran approves plan to slash four zeros from currency
- Lawmakers passed the bill two months after a parliamentary commission revived the long-stalled proposal aimed at simplifying transactions
US resumes food aid to Somalia
- The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port
NAIROBI: The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port.
In early January, Washington suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, saying Somali officials had “illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.”
US officials then warned any future aid would depend on the Somali government taking accountability, a stance Mogadishu countered by saying the warehouse demolition was part of the port’s “expansion and repurposing works.”
On Wednesday, however, the Somali government said “all WFP commodities affected by port expansion have been returned.”
In a statement Somalia said it “takes full responsibility” and has “provided the World Food Program with a larger and more suitable warehouse within the Mogadishu port area.”
The US State Department said in a post on X that: “We will resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
“The Trump Administration maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of US resources,” it said.
US president Donald Trump has slashed aid over the past year globally.
Somalis in the United States have also become a particular target for the administration in recent weeks, targeted in immigration raids.
They have also been accused of large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali community in the country with around 80,000 members.
