Just over a week ago we we were the first to shed light on the reality of hyperinflation on the ground in Iran - and subtley suggested the whole thing could be watched in real-time [6]. Soon after, a mysterious cabal of 16 currency manipulators [7] was arrested and the Rial jumped dramatically higher (according to official sources) - as if by magic there was no problem at all. This all sounded a little too good to be true (just like unemployment rates in slightly more controlled economies). Sure enough, by the power of social media, we now know it was too good to be true.
As open-market foreign exchange rates - not just Rial-to-Dollar - have disappeared from the major currency exchange sites, as trade has reportedly slowed to near suspension after the Central Bank 'imposed' a rate of 28,500 Rials to the USD this weekend.
Critically, though, via EAWorldView [8], while the 'real' rate for the Irainian Real is effectively blacked out, gold prices continue to soar. 'Old gold coin' is now selling for 16 million Rials, up 23% from the pre-suspension 13 million Rial levels - even as the
Central Bank tries to suppress reality (especially to the rest of the world's gaze) as hyperinflation continues - though less transparently.