The Latest from Iran (4 January): If You Yell Victory, Does It Count?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 16:45See also Iran Feature: Explaining the Currency Crisis
Iran Snap Analysis: After the Show of Ships and Missiles, Regime Declares, "We've Won!"
The Latest from Iran (3 January): Desperately Seeking Reformists
2145 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Turkish Front). Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has made an unexpected trip to Tehran today, briefly meeting his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi.
No details of the discussion or of the agenda were given in Mehr, which said only that Davutoğlu would be meeting Iranian officials tomorrow.
2045 GMT: Currency Watch. Amidst the currency crisis, the Central Bank has ordered a decrease in the amount that can be exchanged under a preferential "traveller's rate" from $2000 to $1000.
Under the "traveller's rate" of about 13000:1, the Iranian rial is weaker than the official rate of 11800:1 but still stronger than the open market rate of 15700:1, thus enabling Iranians going abroad to get more US dollars or foreign equivalents for their Iranian currency. Iranians can carry out the transaction once a year.
(Hat tip to Moandor, who provided information earlier today and predicted the Central Bank would soon take a step over the traveller's rate in .)