Hawkers offering foreign exchange have returned to a corner of Ferdowsi Square in central Tehran despite the ban on non-official forex trading introduced in April after the collapse of the Iranian rial (IRR), reports from local media outlets suggested on May 22.

Ferdowsi Square has long been the renowned centre of currency trading in Tehran and it looks like some traders, despite the ban on the forex open market, could not resist returning to their old stomping ground. The returned traders are apparently selling hard currencies well above the permitted “unified” level and risk arrest on a “contraband” charge if they are caught.

One local news report said that the street hawkers were buying the dollar for IRR62,000 while selling it at a marked-up IRR65,000. The euro could be sold for IRR71,500 and bought for IRR72,500.

The several dozen bureaux de change on the street no longer list the now-banned free market rates; however several of the outlets are reportedly involved in large volume trading via telephone.

One trader who spoke with Iran’s Banking and Economy News Agency on a no-names basis said that “recognition, confidence and trust” of the buyer is all that is needed for a purchase of large sums of foreign currency at the unofficial rates.

Since the crackdown on street trading commenced after the Iranian Nowruz New Year holidays, the police presence around the square has also waned; only a handful of police guard the main entrance way and exit points.

Following US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s May 22 announcement that the Trump administration is to impose the “strongest ever sanctions” on Iran in the next few months after its unilateral exit from the nuclear deal, hard currency rates are likely to jump in Iran as people look to shore up against another bout of rial devaluation.

Meanwhile, official website TGJU.ir, representing the Tehran Gold and Jewellers Union, said that each gold sovereign “Imami” is now being traded for around IRR20mn while the sovereign “spring freedom” is sold by official sources at IRR18.2mn.