One day after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution aimed at preventing the reimposition of sanctions on Iran, Tehran’s stock market dropped by more than 50,000 points, while the price of the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies surged in the unofficial market.
The resolution, proposed by South Korea in its capacity as the rotating president of the Security Council, was rejected on Friday with nine opposing votes, paving the way for the activation of the “snapback” mechanism that reinstates UN sanctions on Iran.
On Saturday, September 20, Iranian media reported on the “heavy shock” of the approaching sanctions snapback deadline for Iran’s financial markets.
According to these reports, on the first trading day after the resolution’s rejection, the main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange fell by 50,666 points, dropping to 2,542,000.
The equal-weight index also fell by 8,891 points, dropping back to 781,000, while 13.48 trillion rials were withdrawn from the stock market by individual investors on Saturday.
The state-run daily Etemad quoted experts warning that if this trend continues and the snapback mechanism is activated with UN sanctions reinstated, the main index could fall further to as low as 2,000,000.
Meanwhile, by Saturday noon, the price of the U.S. dollar in Iran’s free market exceeded 1,030,000 rials. Unofficial websites tracking the free market exchange rate even showed 1,034,500 rials per U.S. dollar on Saturday.
On Saturday, the price of the euro also climbed above 1,210,000 rials.
Earlier that day, the state-run ISNA news agency quoted the head of Tehran’s Gold and Jewelry Union as saying there had been a “significant increase in prices” in the domestic gold and coin market.
France, Britain, and Germany, the European parties to the JCPOA who have activated the snapback mechanism, have warned Tehran that time is running out to reach a diplomatic solution before next week’s annual UN General Assembly of world leaders.
In reaction to the rejection of the sanctions-lifting resolution on Friday and the role of France, Britain, and Germany in this matter, Iran’s regime foreign ministry warned that “responsibility for this action, if it leads to the reinstatement of terminated Security Council resolutions against Iran, lies with the United States and the three European countries.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s regime representative to the UN announced that regime president Masoud Pezeshkian and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with European officials in New York next week.
Amir Saeed Iravani, Iran’s regime ambassador to the UN, told reporters Friday evening after the Security Council session on extending Iran sanctions that these meetings would take place during the visit of senior Iranian officials to New York.
If no agreement is reached between Iran and the West in the coming days, all UN sanctions will be reinstated on September 27.
