Iran’s ailing currency took a steep slide on Monday, losing 12% against foreign currencies after US President Obama on Saturday signed a bill that places the Islamic republic’s central bank under unilateral sanctions.
The currency, which economists say was held artificially high for years against the dollar and the euro, has lost about 35% of its value since September.
Its exchange rate hovered at 16,800 rials to the dollar, marking a record low. The currency was trading at about 10,500 rials to the US dollar in late December 2010.
The slide Monday came as Iran tested a domestically produced cruise missile during continuing naval drills near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, sending a message to the West that the country would not tolerate increased sanctions against its profitable oil industry.
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