Iran's currency hits new record low, as war erodes Iran's economic stability

Iran’s currency fell to a new record low on Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar.

The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.

Meanwhile, Iran’s top diplomat said indirect negotiations with the United States aimed at reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz have become “more serious,” while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ chief spokesman spokesman Gen. Hossein Mohebbi on Tuesday called on Americans to take to the streets and protest the conflict.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian media late on Monday that the “current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz.” Araghchi made the comments shortly before departing New York — where he attended last week’s gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly — and after meeting with Pakistani and Qatari mediators.

Araghchi said that the Qatari intermediaries were expected to soon engage with the U.S. side.

“They are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us”, Araghchi said. “If there is a response, the Qataris will convey it to us and a decision will be made in Tehran on that basis.”

U.S. and regional officials have confirmed to The Associated Press that mediators are working with Iran and the U.S. on trying to broker a deal to end the fighting and open the strait.