Iran's currency has hit a record low — 2.02 million to the US dollar — as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepared to announce new sanctions that Washington said would add further pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a US naval blockade.
Bessent is expected to announce more details of the Iran actions in a press conference at 1 pm in Washington, DC that could include announcement of secondary sanctions on entities and countries that maintain business ties with Iran.
It comes as Pakistan's Army Chief, General Asim Munir, discusses new proposals with Iranian officials in Tehran to revive stalled direct talks following fresh contacts with the US, which is threatening to roll out major economic sanctions targeting Iran and its trade partners.
The rial dropped to 2.02 million to the US dollar as trading opened on currency markets on Monday.
Iran's official Central Bank rate stood at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the market rate is what most Iranians pay.
The currency had already been under pressure before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, as Iran faced double-digit inflation and negative growth, but has repeatedly hit new lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.
Iranians find daily staples increasingly unaffordable.
Since the war began, rice is up some 60 percent and prices of beef are more than 150 percent higher. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that GDP will contract more than 5 percent.
Still, economic pressure has not yet translated into political pressure.
Iran's Hormuz chokehold
Iran retains a key strategic advantage: Its attacks and threats on ships in the Strait of Hormuz have brought traffic in the vital waterway to a near halt, damaging the world economy and heaping pressure on US President Donald Trump ahead of congressional elections.
The war, as a result, has devolved into a fight over who controls the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil transited before the conflict.
Iran is now refusing to fully reopen it unless it can charge ships.
Iran and Oman, which is on the opposite side of the strait, are reportedly in the final stages of agreeing upon a plan for joint management of the waterway.
Oman's foreign minister is set to visit Iran on Tuesday.
In an attempt to break the impasse, Trump's administration promised even stronger sanctions than those already in place would be announced on Monday, including secondary sanctions on countries that continue to do business with Iran.
Ahead of the announcement, Trump posted on social media that "IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!"
Already last week, the United Arab Emirates announced that it was suspending all trade with Iran. The UAE has long been one of Irans largest trading partners and its biggest source of imports.
China, Iran's largest trading partner and the primary buyer of its oil, meanwhile said that it is closely watching the developments and will do what is necessary to protect its rights.
Speaking at a daily press conference on Monday, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian also urged parties to act rationally with restraint, warning that sanctions and pressure tactics do not help to resolve issues.
China's oil trade with Iran in 2025 averaged 1.4 million barrels per day, and stood at 1.24 million and 1.58 million bpd in January and February 2026, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler.
