Iran’s currency hits record low amid tensions with the West

tions is media hype and psychological operations in the society,” Farzin said on Saturday.

As the rial went into another freefall on Saturday, the central bank claimed that 300 million euros ($326m) of Iran’s money in Iraq had been received, despite US sanctions, and injected into the market.

Central bank to raise exchange limit

Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo has made a winning start to life in the Saudi Pro League as he led Al Nassr to a 1-0 victory over Ettifaq in his first match, despite failing to score.

During the match on Sunday, Talisca headed the winner in the 31st minute when Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem’s cross was too high for Ronaldo, who did not seem to mind as he wheeled around to celebrate with the Brazilian midfielder and the rest of his new teammates.

Al Nassr, which has played 14 games, moved a point ahead of defending champion Al Hilal, which has played a game more.

Al Nassr fans had to wait three weeks after the announcement of one of the most surprising transfers in football history to see their new hero in competitive action.

On Thursday, Ronaldo played for a combined XI from Al Nassr and Al Hilal in an exhibition game against a Paris Saint-Germain team featuring old foe Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, is the all-time Champions League top-scorer, collecting five titles along the way, and has

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s currency has reached an all-time record low amid increasing tensions with the West and the unrest gripping the country.

On Sunday, the United States dollar went past the 450,000-rial mark for the first time on the open market.

Former Central Bank of Iran governor, Ali Salehabadi, had been sacked after a previous rapid depreciation of the rial in late December that saw it slump to more than 440,000 against the greenback at the open market. His replacement, Mohammad Reza Farzin, had vowed to artificially keep the rate of the currency at 285,000 rials against the dollar for imports of essential goods in an effort to keep prices stable during a 40 percent inflation rate.

“Today the central bank faces no limitations in terms of currency and gold reserves, and the main reason behind the currency fluctua-

On Sunday, the central bank said it will soon raise the maximum amount of currency that can be sold to an individual annually from 2,000 euros ($2,176) to 5,000 euros ($5,439) in an apparent effort to show it has no shortage of currency.

The cap was introduced after the US unilaterally abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 and imposed harsh sanctions, triggering a new currency crisis in Iran.

To combat currency devaluation, Iran’s police force has periodically announced the arrest of dozens of currency speculators in recent months.

This week’s depreciation of the rial comes amid boiling tensions with the West, and as protests in Iran, that started in September last year – which Tehran accuses the West of orchestrating – have persisted.

Source: aljazeera.com

At least five killed in bomb, gun attack in Somalia’s Mogadishu

ministry said on Sunday.

Al-Shabab has stepped up attacks in a show of resilience since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government launched an offensive against the al-Qaeda-linked group in August.

“We were in the office and we were deafened by a blast. We ran out. Gunfire followed,” Farah Abdullahi, who works in the mayor’s office, told Reuters.

TAt least five civilians were killed when members of the al-Shabab armed group set off a bomb then stormed a government building in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, the ministry of information has said.

Attackers from the group charged into the block that houses the office of Mogadishu’s mayor around noon (09:00 GMT) and engaged in a firefight with security forces, the

Sixteen people were injured in the attack, Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance Services, said.

The mayor’s office is located in the local government headquarters building in a wellguarded area of Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab said in a statement that its bombers struck “then foot fighters entered the building after killing the building guards”.

Source: aljazeera.com won seven domestic championships with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Ronaldo also holds the record for international goals -118 with Portugal, with whom he won Euro 2016 – and career goals with 819. In Qatar last year, he became the first man to score at five World Cups.

His shock move to Al Nassr came after his second stint at Manchester United collapsed in acrimony after an explosive TV interview in which he criticised manager Erik ten Hag and the club’s owners. Ronaldo had been repeatedly benched and even temporarily suspended by the club.

He is also coming off a disappointing World Cup where he was benched in the knockout rounds and left the field in tears after Portugal lost in the quarterfinals to Morocco. Media reports have claimed the Portugal star could be earning up to $200m a year from the deal with the Saudi club, which would make him the highest-paid footballer in history.

Source: aljazeera.com