Foreign exchange rates continued to slide Saturday in Tehran’s free market, mostly under the influence of positive reports on the Iran nuclear deal talks in Vienna.
The dollar traded at 25,800 rials, 4,000 rials down over the session before, Eghtesad News reported, the euro lost 2.95% to end the day at 282,560 rials and the UAE dirham gave up 1.7% to buy 70,200 rials.
The greenback was worth 245,620 rials at the official exchange bureaus affiliated to the Central Bank of Iran -- unchanged on Thursday. It posted a slight loss in the wholesale market known as the regulated forex market, giving up 0.6% or 1,460 rials to be tagged at 243,330 rials.
This market is operated by a network of banks and certified moneychangers dealing in wholesale currency and is supervised by the CBI.
The rial gained ground amid positive news and a sense of guarded optimism about the final outcome of complex negotiations between Iran the five world powers ( France, Germany, the UK, China and Russia) to restore Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement. The United States in involved indirectly in the talks.
Pundits say if there is a deal, the rial, which has lost much of its value over the past year, may rebound after the 2018 US banking and financial sanctions are lifted as envisioned in the original deal.
Market observers also refer to the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi's visit to Tehran on Saturday as another factor affecting the currency rates.
Following a meeting between Grossi and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami on Saturday that Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency had “agreed on a roadmap to resolve all outstanding safeguards issues about the country’s nuclear program” by late June, potentially clearing the way for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Gold prices also were down in Tehran on Saturday influenced by the currency rates.
The Emami gold coin fell 0.68% or 800,000 rials to reach 119.05 million rials. The Half Bahar Azadi coin was sold for 68 million rials, down 0.74% and one gram of 18-karat gold was worth 11.98 million rials—down 0.23% on Thursday, the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union website said.
