The U.S. State Department says the sudden crash of Iran’s national currency attests to the fact that economic pressures on Iran have been effective.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on Monday: “Our understanding is that the Iranian currency has dropped to a historic low today against the dollar in informal currency trading, this despite some frantic efforts by the Iranian government last week to try to prop it up, rearrange the way it dealt with these issues.”
She went on to add: “From our perspective, this speaks to the unrelenting and increasingly successful international pressure that we are all bringing to bear on the Iranian economy. It is under incredible strain. Iran is increasingly cut off from the global financial system.”
The Iranian national currency fell to a historic low yesterday, losing close to another 15 percent of its value against foreign currencies.
Israel has been arguing that economic sanctions are not enough to affect any breakthrough in the nuclear disputes with Iran and has called on the United States to draw a “red line” for Iran’s nuclear activities.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have repeatedly announced their intention to make a military strike against Iran.
Nuland reported that Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief and senior nuclear negotiator with the Iranian delegation, will meet with Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, to decide whether any further talks will be scheduled.
In the meantime, the EU and the U.S. have announced plans to intensify the sanctions against Iran.
