An Iranian government spokeswoman acknowledged Friday that the country faces economic pressure and shortages, insisting that officials do not deny the difficulties faced by regular Iranians. Fatemeh Mohajerani, speaking at the inauguration of a 64-bed hospital in the western province of Ilam, said US sanctions had affected the implementation of infrastructure projects across the country. “The government does not deny the economic pressure on the people and the shortages, and whenever we have spoken to the people honestly and transparently, the people have also cooperated with the officials,” he said, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA. He said delays in the completion of infrastructure projects “should not be attributed to the inefficiency of administrators, because severe sanctions have affected the process of obtaining resources and the implementation of projects.” Mohajerani said the Iranian government would continue its efforts to complete unfinished projects despite the limitations. Meanwhile, Central Bank of Iran Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati was quoted on Friday as telling state television that the bank would intervene in the currency market “in a timely and forceful manner” when necessary, acknowledging that the war with the United States had caused “abnormal fluctuations in the market.” An Iranian trader stands outside a currency exchange shop in central Tehran, Iran, on September 2, 2026, amid the ongoing war with the United States. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty “Every time rates move away from economic realities, there will be intervention so that market traders do not view the fluctuations as unidirectional,” he said, without laying out any specific plans. The value of the Iranian currency, the rial, has been falling for years under the pressure of foreign sanctions, and the US military blockade of Iranian oil exports has further depleted it and sent inflation to record levels in the Islamic Republic. As of Friday, one US dollar was worth a record 2.2 million rials on the black market, which is how most Iranians and visitors to the country access foreign currency. However, there is a marked difference between that exchange rate and the official rate determined by the government, which, as of Friday, placed the rial at around 42,000 to the dollar. The yawning chasm between the official exchange rate and the rate paid by virtually all ordinary Iranians has fueled concern about currency volatility and the rising cost of imports and other goods within the country.
