Iran has sufficient foreign currency reserves despite U.S. sanctions, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said on Tuesday, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tehran was lashing out because it was losing the economic war.
The central bank was ready to inject up to $2 billion into the foreign exchange market to calm recent volatility, Hemmati said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
"I am telling the President of the United States: Iran has (foreign) currency and it has enough,” he added.
His comments appeared aimed at reassuring markets after Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, pointed to growing difficulties for an economy facing U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade.
Hemmati said the central bank was continuing to collect foreign currency receivables and had domestic reserves as well as other resources, though he added details of those could not be disclosed.
"I tell the people with complete honesty that economic conditions and livelihood management have become difficult, but collapse has never happened and will never happen. These claims are just psychological warfare and the dust will settle soon," Hemmati said.
Iran’s currency plunged to a record low in August, crossing the psychological threshold of 2 million rials to the U.S. dollar, while annual inflation reached 66% in July.
Bessent said on Monday that Iran was taking U.S. sanctions seriously and was "lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically”.
Washington has been increasingly relying on economic pressure to try to force Tehran to meet its demands, and Bessent has warned that those doing business with Iran could face U.S. sanctions.
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