Iran’s currency, the rial, plunged to a new all-time low of 1,074,000 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, just hours before President Masoud Pezeshkian was due to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The steep fall reflects mounting market anxiety as Iran faces the imminent reimposition of U.N. sanctions and a renewed diplomatic standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
Khamenei shuts door on U.S. talks
The currency turmoil followed remarks by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who again rejected the prospect of direct negotiations with Washington, according to a report by Associated Press.
His stance effectively undercut Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, limiting what they could achieve diplomatically in New York. It also dimmed the chances of last-minute talks with European powers that might avert the automatic reinstatement of sanctions.
Sanctions ‘snapback’ countdown
France, Germany, and the UK recently invoked the snapback mechanism, a feature of the 2015 nuclear deal that allows sanctions to be reinstated without a Security Council veto. Unless a diplomatic compromise is reached, sanctions will automatically return on Sunday, closing the 30-day review window.
The measures would freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals, and penalize Iran’s ballistic missile program, further straining its already battered economy.
European officials have signaled a willingness to extend the deadline, but only if Iran agrees to:
Resume direct talks with the U.S.
Allow U.N. inspectors full access to nuclear sites
Provide an explanation for more than 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, just short of weapons-grade.
Nuclear program under scrutiny
Iran remains the only country enriching uranium to such high levels without a declared weapons program. Western intelligence and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) believe Tehran ran an active weapons program until 2003.
Earlier this month, Iran and the IAEA, with Egypt mediating, signed a cooperation agreement to restart inspections. Yet, implementation has stalled, compounded by a law passed in July suspending cooperation after Israel and the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day conflict in June.
Khamenei: ‘No nuclear bomb’
Despite mounting suspicion, Khamenei reiterated that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons. “We do not have a nuclear bomb and we will not have one, and we do not plan to use nuclear weapon,” he said.
But in a pointed remark, he added: “Science will not be demolished by threats and bombing.”
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