Iran makes new arrests over foreign currency smuggling

By  Trend

Iran has arrested 13 foreign currency dealers over their role in destabilizing the foreign exchange market, the spokesman of the country’s judiciary said.

“13 individuals have been arrested over their role in (the foreign currency) market,” Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said on October 14, Tasnim news agency reported.

So far, 196 people have been arrested for economic crimes and foreign currency smuggling.

Similar arrests were made in August.

Rial has lost about half of its value since April because of a weak economy and heavy demand for dollars among Iranians who fear the effects of US sanctions.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May, and Washington now plans to reimpose sanctions on Tehran. The first round of US sanctions on Iran went into effect on August 6, followed by ones targeting Iran's oil exports on November 4