Iran's rial currency hits new record low as US prepares to announce more sanctions

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s currency hit a new record low Monday as Washington prepared to announce new sanctions it said would be an “economic D-Day” and would add further pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade.

The rial dropped to 2.02 million to the U.S. dollar as trading opened on informal currency markets. Iran’s official Central Bank rate stood at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the informal rate is what most Iranians pay.

The currency had already been under pressure before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 , with double-digit inflation and negative growth, but has been hitting new record lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.

Still, U.S. President Donald Trump has been unable to win concessions from Iran , which continues to keep a firm grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz , the key waterway through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil transited freely before the war began. Iranian attacks and threats have severely hampered that traffic during the war.