Amid reports of a new wave of rising healthcare costs in Iran, Mehdi Pirsalehi, head of the regime’s Food and Drug Administration, announced that starting this year (which began on March 21), the 42,000-rial exchange rate per US dollar for importing medical equipment has been eliminated. This decision effectively means a sevenfold increase in the exchange rate used for importing medical equipment.
It is worth noting that the current market rate for one US dollar in Iran is approximately 1,050,000 rials.
On Sunday, April 13, in an interview with Tasnim News Agency—affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—Pirsalehi stated that the 42,000-rial (or 4,200 toman) exchange rate for importing medical equipment will be replaced with a new rate of 285,000 rials, marking a sevenfold increase.
He added that this year, the Central Bank will allocate $3.5 billion in preferential currency at the rate of 285,000 rials and about $1.5 billion in negotiated exchange rate funds for the provision of medicine and medical equipment.
Earlier, in February 2025, Hossein Samsami, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament), reported a more than tenfold increase in the cost of importing medical supplies due to fluctuations and increases in the official exchange rate. He stated that hospitals can no longer afford to purchase such equipment.
According to Samsami, insurance providers largely lack the capacity to cover these costs, and as a result, the impact of the currency crisis has extended from people’s livelihoods to matters of life and death.
In the remainder of his interview with the regime-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, the head of the Food and Drug Administration acknowledged that, under current conditions, the change in the allocated exchange rate will ultimately be paid out of the pockets of patients.
He added: “The exchange rate difference for equipment will be paid to patients through insurance and within the healthcare system globally, and we hope the increase in out-of-pocket costs will be controlled, although naturally we will see some increase in the cost of medical equipment.”
In such circumstances, the regime is seeking to offset its financial burdens by eliminating the preferential exchange rate—shifting the costs directly onto the public.
Severe Shortage of Medicines in Iran Reaches 150 Items
Mohammad Jamalian, a member of the Health, Treatment, and Medical Education Commission of the regime’s Majlis, stated in an interview with ILNA (Iran Labour News Agency, affiliated with the regime) on April 12 that the prices of some medicines have increased by up to 50 percent.
Jamalian said that the prices of certain medications have doubled or tripled, and there is a “severe shortage” of 150 types of medicine.
Iranian Regime MP Warns About Intensified Medicine Shortages
Referring to last year’s crises in the pharmaceutical sector, he added that timely allocation of foreign currency is crucial to preventing medicine shortages.
Reports in domestic Iranian media also indicate that amid a new wave of price hikes, the cost of 75 types of medicine has increased by an average of 33 percent—with official approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
On April 12, the Boursepress news outlet reported that Darou Pakhsh Pharmaceutical Company received authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to increase the prices of 75 of its products by between 5 and 147 percent.
Additionally, based on information from pharmacies in Tehran, the prices of more than 200 types of medicine have risen by at least 20 percent since the beginning of the new Iranian year (March 21).
According to these reports, most pharmaceutical companies have submitted official requests to the Food and Drug Administration for price increases and are awaiting formal approval of the new rates.
