Iran’s currency has hit historic lows against the US dollar, with the free-market rate surpassing 2 million rials per dollar and later trading around 2.1 million.
According to The Business Standard report, Iranian rial has fallen to a historic low, with the US dollar trading above 2 million Iranian rials on the free market, as the country grapples with the combined impact of long-running sanctions, war-related disruption and accelerating inflation.
The report notes that the rial’s collapse has sharply cut household purchasing power, with food, medicines and other necessities rising dramatically since the conflict began.
Insulin prices jumped 642%, cooking oil 177%, chicken 74% and tomatoes 71%; even subsidised baby formula rose 95%.
Families report weekly grocery costs up 20-30%, while minimum wages (around 166-220 million rials, or roughly $82-$108) lag far behind. Iran International (31 August 2026) reported the dollar trading around a historic 2.1 million rials on Monday. Iranians pushed back against a senior official questioning cheap gasoline subsidies, contrasting them with low wages and soaring costs: an average monthly income of 200-250 million rials equals just $95-$119 at that rate. One commenter wrote, “You can’t have income in rials and expenses in dollars.”
Food inflation exceeded 128% year-on-year in some measures, while pensioners and workers described cutting meat, fruit and other basics.
Officials attributed part of the crisis to budget deficits and money printing.
According an Iran International report, this sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial (IRR) versus the US dollar reflects years of sanctions, recent conflict disruption, high inflation and reduced purchasing power for ordinary Iranians. Basic goods once affordable for millions of rials now require far more, squeezing households and businesses alike.
IRR to PKR
As of 31 August 2026, mid-market rates show roughly 1 Iranian rial equalling about 0.000203 Pakistani rupees, or equivalently around 4,930 Iranian rials per 1 Pakistani rupee.
This means large quantities of rials are needed to equal even modest amounts of PKR; for example, 1 million IRR converts to roughly 203 PKR, while 100,000 IRR is only about 20 PKR. The extreme weakness of the rial relative to the Pakistani rupee mirrors its collapse against the dollar. With the free-market USD/IRR rate near 2.1 million and USD/PKR around 277-278, cross rates confirm the rial’s low value.
The IRR has lost nearly 97% of its value against the PKR over the past year in some tracked data, driven by the same pressures of sanctions, inflation and economic disruption affecting its dollar rate.
