Iran sanctions at work
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 6:04 pm
DUBAI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Iran will defeat a "conspiracy" against its foreign currency and gold markets, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday, with pressure mounting on the authorities to deal with the rapid collapse of the rial.
Riot police fought demonstrators and arrested money changers in and around the Tehran bazaar on Wednesday during protests triggered by the fall of the Iranian currency, which has lost a third of its value against the dollar over the last ten days.
Washington says the fall in the rial over the past year has been caused by both economic mismanagement and sanctions, which the administration of President Barack Obama and the European Union tightened sharply this year.
Iran's leadership could "relieve the pressure its people are feeling" if it resolves concerns about its nuclear work, David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, said in London.
Aides to senior U.S. lawmakers said on Friday they were looking at even more drastic sanctions to isolate Iran from the international financial system.
The bazaar, whose merchants were influential in bringing an end to Iran's monarchy in 1979, wields significant influence and this week's unrest is a clear signal that the economic hardship is having a profound effect on businessmen and residents alike.
This is a very serious situation. There is a lot of pressure on Khamenei to remove Ahmadinejad but they will need to find a way to do it without losing face," said Iranian-born Mehrdad Emami, an economics adviser to the European Union.
"Ahmadinejad is pushing ahead and that could create continuing unrest which will need a lot of security on the streets," he added.
Riot police fought demonstrators and arrested money changers in and around the Tehran bazaar on Wednesday during protests triggered by the fall of the Iranian currency, which has lost a third of its value against the dollar over the last ten days.
Washington says the fall in the rial over the past year has been caused by both economic mismanagement and sanctions, which the administration of President Barack Obama and the European Union tightened sharply this year.
Iran's leadership could "relieve the pressure its people are feeling" if it resolves concerns about its nuclear work, David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, said in London.
Aides to senior U.S. lawmakers said on Friday they were looking at even more drastic sanctions to isolate Iran from the international financial system.
The bazaar, whose merchants were influential in bringing an end to Iran's monarchy in 1979, wields significant influence and this week's unrest is a clear signal that the economic hardship is having a profound effect on businessmen and residents alike.
This is a very serious situation. There is a lot of pressure on Khamenei to remove Ahmadinejad but they will need to find a way to do it without losing face," said Iranian-born Mehrdad Emami, an economics adviser to the European Union.
"Ahmadinejad is pushing ahead and that could create continuing unrest which will need a lot of security on the streets," he added.