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Plunge in Currency's Value Unsettles Iran
(New York Times) Rick Gladstone - Iran's currency, the rial, tumbled in value to its lowest level ever against the dollar on Tuesday in panic selling caused in part by the country's increased economic isolation from international sanctions, an unbridled inflation problem and worries that government officials there are ideologically incapable of devising a workable solution. Iran's Fars News Agency reported that it cost 15,150 rials to buy one dollar in Tehran, compared with 13,400 rials to the dollar a few days earlier. In late October, it cost about 7,000 rials to buy one dollar, which means the Iranian currency has plunged in value by more than 50% against the dollar in the past few months. "This is the most serious financial crisis they've faced, with multiple things coming to a head," said Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, a professor of economics at Virginia Tech and an authority on Iran's economy. "I have the feeling that really nobody is in charge of economic policy."