TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s rial currency fell Wednesday to a new low of 1.2 million to the U.S. dollar as nuclear sanctions squeeze Tehran’s ailing economy.
Traders offered the new exchange rate as attempts so far to restart negotiations between America and Iran over its nuclear program appear stalled.
The new record low is increasing pressure on food prices and other costs have been making daily life that much more challenging for Iranians. Prices are up on meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table.
Meanwhile, people worry about a new round of fighting between Iran and Israel — as well as potentially the United States — after June’s 12-day war.
“Life will not only become more difficult for ordinary people, but it will also fuel public concern over whether the government — given the limited inflow of foreign currency caused by sanctions — has the resources to maintain and repair the country’s aging infrastructure,” said Ali Moshtagh, a 53-year-old electrical engineer.
Iran’s economy has been severely affected by international sanctions, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. At the time of the 2015 deal, which saw Iran drastically limit its enrichment and stockpiling of uranium in exchange for lifting of international sanctions, the rial traded at 32,000 to the dollar.
After Trump returned to the White House for his second term in January, he restarted his so-called “maximum pressure” campaign targeting Tehran with sanctions. He again went after firms trading Iranian crude oil, including those selling at a discount in China.
In late September, the United Nations reimposed nuclear sanctions on Iran via what diplomats referred to as its “snapback” mechanism. Those sanctions again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures.
FILE — A street money exchanger poses for a photo without showing his face as he holds U.S. and Iranian banknotes at Ferdowsi square, Tehran's go-to venue for foreign currency exchange, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE — Current and pre-revolution Iranian banknotes are displayed by a street money exchanger at Ferdowsi square, Tehran's go-to venue for foreign currency exchange, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar’s prime minister on Saturday said the Gaza ceasefire has reached a “critical moment” as its first phase winds down, with the remains of just one Israeli hostage still held by militants in Gaza.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told an international conference in the Qatari capital that international mediators, led by the U.S., are working “to force the way forward” to the second phase to cement the deal.
“What we have just done is a pause,” he told the Doha Forum. “We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire.”
“A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today,” he said.
While the ceasefire halted the heavy fighting of the two-year war, Gaza health officials say that over 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect in October.
In new violence, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike northwest of Gaza City, Shifa Hospital said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. But the Israeli army says it has carried out a number of attacks on Palestinians crossing the ceasefire lines into Israeli-controlled territory in Gaza.
The first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan took effect Oct. 10. The fighting stopped and dozens of hostages held in Gaza were exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prison. Israel sent a delegation last week to Egypt for talks on returning the remains of the last hostage.
The next phase, which includes the deployment of an international security force in Gaza, formation of a new technocratic government for the territory, disarmament of Hamas and an eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has not yet begun.
Arab and Western officials told The Associated Press on Friday that an international body overseeing the ceasefire, to be led by Trump himself, is expected to be appointed by the end of the year. In the long term, the plan also calls for a possible “pathway” to Palestinian independence.
Sheikh Mohammed said that even the upcoming phase should be “temporary” and that peace in the region could only take place with the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state — something that is opposed by Israel's hard-line government.
“If we are just resolving what happened in Gaza, the catastrophe that happened in the last two years, it’s not enough,” he said. “There is a root for this conflict. And this conflict is not only about Gaza."
He added: “It’s about Gaza. It’s about the West Bank. It’s about the rights of the Palestinians for their state. We are hoping that we can work together with the U.S. administration to achieve this vision at the end of the day.”
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said there is a “big question” over the formation of an international security force for Gaza. Speaking at the same conference, he said it's unclear which countries will be joining the force, what the command structure would look like and what its “first mission” will be.
Turkey is one of the “guarantors” of the ceasefire, but Israel, which has rocky relations with the Ankara government, has rejected any Turkish participation in the force.
“Thousands of details, questions are in place,” Fidan said. "I think once we deploy ISF, the rest will come.”
The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants entered Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking over 250 people hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says that nearly half the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of Gaza's Hamas government and its numbers are considered reliable by the U.N. and other international bodies.
Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians stand amid the destruction left by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza City Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
