Iran’s currency weakens to new record low - AP

Investing.com - Iran's currency weakened to a new record low on Tuesday, in a sign of the impact the ongoing war in the Middle East has had on the Iranian economy.

Traders were exchanging over 2.5 million rials to one U.S. dollar, compared to a previous low of 2.2 million on September 2, according to the Associated Press. Since the start of a joint U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran in late February, the rial has steadily slipped to new lows.

Against this backdrop, the U.S. and Iran have been speaking through mediators this week. Iran's top diplomat called the discussions, which have been aimed at forging a deal to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, "more serious," the Associated Press reported.

Iran's foreign minister also stressed to domestic media that the "current focus is solely" on Hormuz, a key waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war. The minister added that the matter will be raised to American negotiators through Qatari mediators, who will then update Iran.

Mediation efforts are reportedly continuing to push for an end to the fighting, the AP reported. However, the drive was complicated earlier this week when U.S. President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen Hormuz in seven days in return for the lifting of an American naval blockade of Iranian ports, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil.

The paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) urged American citizens to persuade Washington to end the war, a message which comes mere weeks before critical U.S. midterm elections. The only way for the conflict to come to a conclusion is for the U.S. to submit to defeat and back away from the Middle East, the AP reported, citing an IRGC spokesperson.

Recent polls have suggested that Trump's Republican Party is facing significant headwinds to its chances of retaining control of both chambers of Congress, with voters displeased over the Iran war and its impact on a spike in oil prices.

Confronted with a stalemate in combat operations, Trump and White House officials have suggested that they have adopted the tactic of squeezing Iran economically until Tehran is forced to cave to U.S. demands. Trump has said the war is now likely to be over after the November elections.

Original Article

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