Iran's central bank (CBI) has moved the country's long-delayed currency redenomination into its preliminary operational phase, with the old rial set to be fully withdrawn from circulation by 2030. 

Until redenomination is implemented, high inflation and collapsing foreign exchange rates have forced the CBI to produce ever‑larger banknotes. The situation has become so acute that the CBI in early 2026 even issued an IRR5,000,000 "Iran‑cheque," worth only a few US dollars at the market rate.

Fakhri Mohaddeth, head of the digital economy group at the Central Bank of Iran's economic research department, said the law amending clause A of Article 58 of the Central Bank Act was passed by parliament on October 30, 2025, and came into force on December 7, 2025.

Under the approved timeline, a two-year preparation period, running until December 2027, will be used to update banking, financial, accounting, and tax systems across the country.

Iran will then enter a three-year transition period during which both the old and new rials will circulate simultaneously, before the old currency is fully retired.

Each new rial will be equivalent to 10,000 old rials, with a sub-unit called the "qiran" — 100 of which will equal one new rial. The currency will retain the name "rial."

Mohaddeth said the redenomination would have no impact on the monetary base, liquidity or inflation, and that no new money would be created.

Banknote printing would continue as normal, with new denomination notes gradually introduced into circulation alongside existing ones, which have become worthless in recent months. 

The central bank also announced plans for dual price labelling ahead of the formal transition, with goods and services displayed in both old and new rials to familiarise the public and limit the risk of pricing errors.

"Removing the zeros is purely a change of monetary scale and has no price or inflationary effect," Mohaddeth said, according to Tasnim.

According to the latest data from the Iranian bureaux de change website Bonbast, the Iranian rial is currently trading at IRR1.64mn against the US dollar, which is one of the lowest floors yet for the Iranian currency against a basket of currencies. 

The High Board of the CBI approved the draft executive regulation under Article 58(a) of the Central Bank Law on February 23.

The regulation covers the preparation period required before the currency change takes effect, including the redesign and testing of banking systems, software and hardware by all relevant institutions, staff training programmes and the introduction of dual price labelling across the economy.

Under the plan's terms, the public will receive at least 4 months' notice before the transition period begins. During that period, both the old and new currency units will circulate simultaneously, giving businesses and consumers time to adjust.