Iran’s rial currency fell on Wednesday (December 3, 2025) to a new low of 1.2 million to the U.S. dollar as nuclear sanctions squeeze Tehran’s ailing economy.

Traders offered the new exchange rate as attempts so far to restart negotiations between America and Iran over its nuclear program appear stalled.

The new record low is increasing pressure on food prices and other costs have been making daily life that much more challenging for Iranians. Prices are up on meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table.

Meanwhile, people worry about a new round of fighting between Iran and Israel — as well as potentially the United States — after June’s 12-day war.

“Life will not only become more difficult for ordinary people, but it will also fuel public concern over whether the government — given the limited inflow of foreign currency caused by sanctions — has the resources to maintain and repair the country’s aging infrastructure,” said Ali Moshtagh, a 53-year-old electrical engineer.

Iran’s economy has been severely affected by international sanctions, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. At the time of the 2015 deal, which saw Iran drastically limit its enrichment and stockpiling of uranium in exchange for lifting of international sanctions, the rial traded at 32,000 to the dollar.

After Mr. Trump returned to the White House for his second term in January, he restarted his so-called “maximum pressure” campaign targeting Tehran with sanctions. He again went after firms trading Iranian crude oil, including those selling at a discount in China.

In late September, the United Nations reimposed nuclear sanctions on Iran via what diplomats referred to as its “snapback” mechanism. Those sanctions again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures.

Iran does not plan to immediately resume nuclear talks with European nations after they reimposed sanctions, the foreign Ministry said on Monday (October 6, 2025).

Britain, France and Germany, signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, reimposed sanctions on September 28, triggering in turn the return of UN sanctions under the so-called snapback mechanism.

“We have no plans for negotiations at this stage,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, adding that Iran was examining the “consequences and implications” of the restart of sanctions initiated by the countries known as the E3.

“Of course, diplomacy — in the sense of maintaining contacts and consultations — will continue,” Baqaei said.

“Whenever we feel that diplomacy can be effective, we will certainly make decisions based on the country’s interests and priorities,” he added.

Western countries, spearheaded by the United States and joined by Israel, accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons and define uranium enrichment as a red line.

Iran categorically rejects the accusations, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes and that it has a right to enrichment under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only country without a nuclear weapons programme to enrich uranium to 60%, close to the threshold of 90% required for a bomb.

In 2015, the United States, with the three European countries, Russia, and China concluded an agreement with Iran providing for the regulation of Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

President Donald Trump decided during his first term in 2018 to withdraw from the deal and reinstate sanctions.

In retaliation, Iran has gradually withdrawn from some commitments, particularly on uranium enrichment.

Iran has repeatedly warned that a return of sanctions would lead to a suspension of cooperation with the IAEA.

On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that cooperation with the IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, “is no longer relevant” with the reintroduction of UN sanctions, though it was not clear whether Iran intends to completely break with the agency.

A confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog circulated to member states and seen by The Associated Press said Wednesday (September 3, 2025) that Iran increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels before Israel launched its military attack on June 13.

The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said that as of June 13, Iran had 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 32.3 kilograms (71.2 pounds) since the IAEA’s last report in May.

Also read | What is next for Iran’s nuclear programme?

The report stated that this figure is “based on the information provided by Iran, agency verification activities between 17 May 2025 and 12 June 2025 (the day preceding the start of the military attacks), and estimates based on the past operation of the relevant facilities.”

That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

The confidential report also said Iran and the IAEA have not reached an agreement on resuming inspections of sites affected by Israeli and U.S. bombing in June.

The only site inspected since the war has been the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which operates with Russian technical assistance.

The director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that “technical modalities to enable the full resumption of Agency inspection should be concluded without delay,” the report stated.

The report stated that while the withdrawal of UN inspectors from Iran during the war “was necessary given the overall security situation, Tehran’s “subsequent decision to cut cooperation with the IAEA was ”deeply regrettable.”

As of June 13, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was 9874.9 kilograms, which represents an increase of 627.3 kilograms since the last repot in May, the report said.

The IAEA said that since June 13, it has “not been able to conduct the in-field activities required to collect and verify Iran’s declarations used to estimate the changes to the previously reported stockpile.”

According to the IAEA, approximately 42 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce one atomic bomb, if enriched further to 90%.

The IAEA also reported that inspectors have not been able to verify Iran’s near bomb-grade stockpile for over two and a half months, which it called “a matter of serious concern.”

UN Security Council permanent members China and Russia backed Iran on Monday in rejecting a move by European countries to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran loosened a decade ago under a nuclear agreement.

A letter signed by the Chinese, Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministers said a move by Britain, France and Germany to automatically restore the sanctions under a so-called “snapback mechanism” was “legally and procedurally flawed”.

China and Russia were signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, along with the three European countries, known as the E3. U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in his first term in 2018.

The Europeans launched the “snapback mechanism” last week, accusing Iran of violating the deal, which had provided relief from international financial sanctions in return for curbs to Iran’s nuclear programme.

The letter published by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X on Monday said that the course taken by Britain, France, and Germany “abuses the authority and functions of the UN Security Council”.

Iran has long since broken through the limits on uranium production set under the 2015 deal, arguing that it is justified in doing so as a consequence of Washington having pulled out of the agreement. The deal expires in October this year, and the snapback mechanism would allow sanctions that were lifted under it to take effect again.

Iran and the E3 held talks aimed at a new nuclear agreement after Israel and the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear installations in mid-June. But the E3 deemed that talks in Geneva last week did not yield sufficient signals of readiness for a new deal from Iran.

“Our joint letter with my colleagues, the foreign ministers of China and Russia, signed in Tianjin, reflects the firm position that the European attempt to invoke snapback is legally baseless and politically destructive”, Iran’s foreign minister said in his post on X.