Iran’s exchange market on Sunday witnessed an unprecedented appreciation of the Iranian rial against the US dollar in what many see as the result of an overwhelming positive speculation by the country’s businesses toward the outcomes of nuclear talks now underway in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Media reports say the exchange rate for the US dollar that was 35,700 rials two weeks ago has declined to as low as 31,800 rials at the end of the trading on Sunday. This marks a fall of around 11 percent.
The decline of the rate of the dollar against the rial has been recorded at 3 percent over the past 24 hours.
The rate of euro against the rial has also been declining with reports saying that euro has seen a decline of 13 percent over the past 10 days.
Meanwhile, many Iran exchange market activists have told the media that the appreciation of the rial against key foreign currencies is the result of a growing optimism toward the outcomes of nuclear talks between Iran and P5+1.
Some also believe that this is the result of the satisfactory performance of the government of President Hassan Rouhani in controlling fluctuations in foreign exchange rates as well as the decrease in euro parity rate against the dollar.
There are now reports that the Iranian market expects the exchange rate of the dollar to decline to as low as 30,000 rials and even below if Iran reaches a deal with P5+1 over its nuclear energy program.
This comes as negotiators from Iran and the US are in the Swiss city of Lausanne for a fresh round of talks over remaining obstacles on the way of a final agreement on the Iranian nuclear energy program. The Iranian team is led by Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif and the US team is led by Secretary of State John Kerry.
Following the talks, Zarif will leave for Brussels, Belgium, on Monday, where he will hold separate talks on Iran’s nuclear energy case with his German, French and UK counterparts.
Both Iran and the US have already emphasized that their latest meetings have been positive. Not much has come out to the media regarding the exact agenda of the talks. Nevertheless, speculations suggest that the timetable for the lifting of the sanctions against Iran which is expected to unleash foreign investments into the country is a key theme in the talks.
AA/AA