The Iranian rial (IRR) continued its rebound on October 7, strengthening to around IRR123,000 against the US dollar on the free market, according to data on foreign exchange website Bonbast.com. However, October 8 saw the currency give up some of its gains, as it slid to IRR142,000 by around 17:45 local time.

Amid the US sanctions assault on the Iranian economy, the rial lately fell to its weakest ever rate of around 195,000 versus the USD, placing it at approximately 75% down in the year to date.

Market observers have partly attributed the sudden turnaround in the market to new rules allowing the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) to directly intervene on the foreign exchange market and flood the system with currency deployments to stop the run on the rial.

The government, meanwhile, has been pushing the country’s ‘internet police’ to track down the owners of several free market websites listing prices of hard currencies. Many of those sites are now not displaying rates. Bonbast.com is the holdout, perhaps given the fact that it is run from abroad, so can evade the clampdown.

The Tehran Stock Exchange’s main index lost 1,474.08 points or 0.79% by the end of trade on October 6, ending at 184,085.02. In response to the devaluation of the rial there was a surge of interest in stocks as investors sought alternative investments.

Meanwhile, the Iran Fara Bourse, Iran’s largest over-the-counter market, saw its main index, the IFX, close 0.26% down on the previous day.