A money changer waits for customers in Tehran’s business district on Saturday. Iran’s parliament cracked down on unofficial money traders yesterday after new US sanctions helped trigger a currency crash as Iranians rushed to buy dollars. The rial lost about 20% of its value against the dollar before the central bank intervened last week to try to stem further losses by injecting hard currency into the market. At a special parliamentary debate on the currency crisis, lawmakers passed a measure imposing legal penalties on touts who sell foreign currencies outside official exchange offices and banks where rates can be subjected to government controls. The measure may scare away touts, a common sight in parts of Tehran where they wave wads of currency at passing motorists. But it will have no immediate impact on the price most Iranians have to pay for dollars which, even at licensed exchange offices, sell at a 40% premium over the central bank’s “reference rate”. Economists say the currency slide is due to fears about inflation, 20% and rising, eroding the rial’s buying power and to the effect of western sanctions making it harder for Iranians to get hold of foreign currencies. Sanctions
approved by US President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve added to demand for dollars, pushing the rial to an all-time low last week. The new measures would cut off any bank around the world from the US banking system if they do business with Iran’s central bank