The value of Iran's currency is collapsing in the run-up to the European Union's announcement of additional sanctions against Iran.
According to "Bonvast", a website that publishes the exchange rate of the Iranian rial market on the 22nd (local time), the trading exchange rate exceeded 450,000 rials per US dollar on that day.
This is a record high and hit the previous highest exchange rate (440,000 rials) on 28 March.
The rial/dollar exchange rate has risen steadily since massive anti-government protests began in September last year. Before the protests, the exchange rate was between 310,000 and 320,000 rials.
Recently, it has skyrocketed ahead of the announcement of additional EU sanctions.
Iran has responded with a crackdown on anti-government protests sparked by the questionable death of a female university student arrested in September last year for not wearing a hijab, and the EU has placed senior officials of the Iranian government and military and police on a sanctions list.
Individuals on the sanctions list will have their assets frozen in the EU and banned from visiting.
There is a growing call among EU member states that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) should be designated as a terrorist organization and sanctioned.
The European Parliament recently adopted a document urging EU member states to designate the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
The European Parliament cited the ruthless crackdown on anti-government protests and the provision of drones to Russia, which invaded Ukraine, as reasons for designating it a terrorist group. [YonhapNews]
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