# Iran’s rial hits a new low as dollar tops 2.5 million Author: Abdullah Özkurt Language: English Published: 2026-09-30T15:10:48+03:00 Updated: 2026-09-30T15:10:48+03:00 ![Iranian rial banknotes moving through a money counter beside a U.S. dollar note](https://kriptometa.com/uploads/dolar-milyon-riyali-asti-iran-parasinda-yeni-dip-4a882bd03432_article.webp) ## Key takeaways - The dollar crossed 2.5 million Iranian rials in the open market on September 29. - Bonbast lists a September 29 dollar selling price of 255,800 tomans, equivalent to 2,558,000 rials, versus 245,000 tomans a day earlier. - The dollar’s selling price in tomans rose about 4.4% between those archive entries. These are open-market quotes, not the official rate. The record exchange rate tells only part of Iran’s currency story. Quotes collected from exchange shops show how much more local currency was needed to buy the same dollar amount in just one day. Iran’s rial fell to a fresh low against the dollar on September 29. [The Associated Press reported](https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-currency-hormuz-trump-91de6619aca2e1a9a32757166eae98d0) that traders in Tehran’s [foreign-exchange market](https://kriptometa.com/en/news/forex) were exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for one U.S. dollar. The milestone brought the erosion of local purchasing power back into focus as sanctions and pressure on oil revenue continued to weigh on the economy. ## The dollar’s price in tomans rose 4.4% in one day We checked the reported threshold against the underlying rate provider. In [Bonbast’s archive, accessed by selecting each date](https://www.bonbast.com/archive), the dollar’s selling price is 245,000 tomans for September 28 and 255,800 for September 29. The difference is 10,800 tomans, an increase of about 4.4% in the dollar’s local-currency price. Dollar selling quotes in Bonbast’s archive | Date | Tomans per dollar | Equivalent in rials | |---|---|---| | September 28, 2026 | 245,000 | 2,450,000 | | September 29, 2026 | 255,800 | 2,558,000 | The 4.4% figure measures the rise in the dollar’s price in tomans. It is not the same calculation as the percentage decline in the rial’s dollar value. These are dated archive entries, not a live September 30 quote or a claim about the intraday high. ## Mixing up rials and tomans changes the number tenfold Bonbast states in its [explanation of its data](https://www.bonbast.com/faq) that it obtains quotes from exchange shops in Tehran and displays prices in tomans. The rial is Iran’s [official currency](https://kriptometa.com/en/glossary/what-is-fiat-money), while the toman is commonly used for everyday prices: one toman equals ten rials. **255,800 tomans is not 255,800 rials.** Converting Bonbast’s entry gives 2,558,000 rials per dollar. Comparisons between open-market quotes and official exchange rates used for other purposes require matching both the currency unit and the type of market. The [spread between buying and selling prices](https://kriptometa.com/en/glossary/bid-ask-spread) also affects comparisons. We used the selling column for both dates to keep the comparison consistent. Fees, transaction size and quotes from other exchange shops are not included. Figures on different screens should not automatically be treated as prices available at the same time under the same conditions. [View The Siasat Daily’s September 29 currency report on X](https://x.com/TheSiasatDaily/status/2104895597496930760) ## Currency weakness raises the local cost of imports AP reports that the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian oil and new wartime sanctions have added to the strain from years of restrictions. The currency record in the agency’s report does not, by itself, amount to a new official devaluation decision. It reflects the local currency’s weakening in the open market. When an import invoice is denominated in dollars, a higher exchange rate requires more local currency to pay for the same goods. How much of that cost reaches retail prices, and when, depends on inventories, contracts and pricing decisions. A one-day rise in the dollar therefore does not show that consumer inflation has increased by the same amount.