Iranian rial continues to hit new lows; central bank reportedly intervenes in foreign exchange market.

The Iranian rial continued to fall on Saturday. This came after Iran's central bank announced it would inject up to $2 billion in funds to support the rial, in response to the economic difficulties caused by US sanctions and a maritime blockade. According to the free-market tracking website bon-bast, the dollar was selling for about 2.688 million rials, up from 2.632 million rials on Friday; alanchand reported 269.5 million rials per dollar. Iran's state television said state-owned banks had begun selling up to $2 billion to support the local currency. The rial has lost more than half its value over the past year. Many Iranians seeking a safe haven for their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies, or gold. Mehdi Dalabi, the foreign exchange affairs assistant to the governor of Iran's central bank, blamed the rial's decline in part on incorrect predictions by US officials of the collapse of Iran's economy. Dalabi said: "Some are suggesting that Iran's economy is about to collapse... the enemy is using this to influence our currency's exchange rate." He added that the rial's current decline is temporary.