The Oscar-winning actress Taraneh Alidoosti from Iran was detained for her support of demonstrators. Iranian currency depreciation has been partially attributed by Central Bank Governor Ali Salehabadi to recent anti-government riots. He argues that to support the faltering rial, dollars might be poured into the market. Mahsa Amini, a lady detained for “inappropriate dress,” died while she was there, which led to the disturbance. On the black market, a dollar is now worth 395,600 rials, up from 386,800 on Friday.
Alidoosti was given a five-month suspended sentence in 2020 after criticizing the morality police who enforce the hijab or Islamic dress code on Twitter. Alidoosti was the most recent of scores of musicians, writers, and attorneys who have been held over the past three months for speaking out against a brutal crackdown on protestors by the security forces, some of whom have since been released on bond.
Since the beginning of the national protests three months ago, the value of the rial has decreased by around 20%. The exchange rate for the currency in May 2018 was roughly 65,000 to the dollar. “We will function both as a market-maker and a hard currency policymaker,” said the governor of Iran’s central bank.
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