Iran's rial slides to fresh record low as Hormuz talks gain momentum

Iran's currency weakened to a fresh record on Tuesday, with money changers in Tehran quoting more than 2.5 million rials to the US dollar. The slide came only 27 days after the rial touched its earlier peak of 2.2 million to the dollar on September 2, underscoring the steady erosion of the country's economic stability since fighting broke out in February.

The rial has repeatedly plumbed new depths over the course of the conflict, and Tuesday's level extended that pattern.

Against this backdrop, Iran's top diplomat said indirect negotiations with the United States aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz have grown "more serious." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian media late on Monday that the "current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz."

His remarks came shortly before he left New York, where he had attended last week's gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, and after meetings with Pakistani and Qatari mediators. Araghchi said Qatari intermediaries were expected to engage with the US side soon.

"They are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us," he said. "If there is a response, the Qataris will convey it to us and a decision will be made in Tehran on that basis."

US and regional officials have confirmed that mediators are working with both Iran and the US to try to broker a deal that would end the fighting and open the strait.

Separately, the chief spokesman of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, on Tuesday urged Americans to take to the streets and protest the conflict.