Iran’s currency hit a new record low on Sunday, dropping past 100,000 rials to the US dollar as Iranians brace for Tuesday next week, when Washington is due to reimpose a first lot of economic sanctions.
The US in May pulled out of a 2015 deal between world powers and Tehran under which international sanctions were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
Washington decided to reimpose sanctions upon its withdrawal, accusing Tehran of posing a security threat.
It has told countries they must halt imports of Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face US financial measures.
On Sunday, the rial plunged to 112,000 on the unofficial market, down from about 97,500 rials on Saturday, according to foreign-exchange Web site Bonbast.com.
The US dollar was exchanged between 108,500 rials and 116,000 rials, other Web sites said.
The rial has lost about half of its value since April because of a weak economy, financial difficulties at local banks and heavy demand for US dollars among Iranians who fear the effects of sanctions.
The Iranian central bank blamed “enemies” for the fall of the currency and a rapid rise in the prices of gold coins, and the judiciary said 29 people had been arrested on charges that carry the death penalty.
“The recent developments in the foreign exchange and gold markets are largely due to a conspiracy by enemies with the aim of exacerbating economic problems and causing public anxiety,” the central bank said in a statement read on state television.
Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told state television that “29 people have been arrested for economic disruption and will be soon put on trial... More may be arrested tonight and tomorrow.”
“Many of them face the charge of ‘spreading corruption on Earth,’” Ejei said, referring to a capital offense under Iran’s Islamic laws.
Besides the currency fall, the expected return of sanctions has triggered street protests, including by bazaar traders usually loyal to the Muslim rulers, and a public outcry over alleged profiteering and corruption.
On Saturday, Ejei said 18 people had been arrested over alleged profiteering from foreign-exchange dealings and the illegal importing of luxury cars.
US President Donald Trump has called the agreement one of the worst deals ever negotiated, but in a bid to salvage the accord, Iran’s European partners in the deal are preparing a package of economic measures.
However, France this month said that it was unlikely European powers could put the package together before November.
Washington is on Tuesday next week reimpose sanctions on Iran’s purchase of US dollars, its trade in gold and precious metals and its dealings with metals, coal and industrial-related software.
Sanctions also would be reapplied to US imports of Iranian carpets and foodstuffs, and on certain related financial transactions.
Iran’s oil exports could fall by as much as two-thirds this year due to sanctions, straining oil markets amid supply outages elsewhere.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”