Current Events

Reuters - At a special parliamentary debate on the currency crisis, Iranian lawmakers passed a measure imposing legal penalties on touts who sell foreign currencies outside official exchange offices and banks where rates can be subjected to government controls. The measure may scare away touts, a common sight in parts of Tehran where they wave wads of currency at passing motorists. But it will have no immediate impact on the price most Iranians have to pay for dollars which, even at licensed exchange offices, sell at a 40 percent premium over the central bank's "reference rate." >>>