Iran plans to remove zeros from the rial to make its value "real" and combat inflation.

A little over a month after the turmoil caused in North Korea by the redenomination of their currency (read: North Korea Changes Currency and Rates 100 to 1), Iran has also announced a similar plan.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the country would “remove zeros from its national currency, the rial, in order to make its value ‘real,’” Reuters reported Wednesday.

“We are supposed to remove zeros (from the rial) to make its value real,” Ahmadinejad said. “We have to return its value to the one existing in the law,” he said, without elaborating.

Ahmadinejad has been criticized during his presidential terms for being unable to control soaring inflation rates that have plagues the country for decades. Thirty years ago, one rial was worth about $1US while today, it takes 10 thousand rials to be worth $1US.

In December, North Korea redenominated its currency at a rate of 100:1 and limited the amount of banknotes its citizens could exchange in state banks. Markets were shut down for a week while the exchange took place, and several South Korean reports say that protest and violence were rampant.

Prior to this announcement, Iran has also been struggling with its attempts to remove anti-regime graffitied currency from circulation (read: Iran Deems “Green” Banknotes Invalid).

The redenomination of the Iranian currency is expected to begin in April.

SOURCES:
Reuters: “Iran plans to lop off zeros from currency: Ahmedinejad”
Trend Capital: “Iranian president hopes to denominate currency”
Islamic News: “Iran is going to denominate the national money”

In response to the increasing circulation of banknotes scribbled with anti-government slogans (read Iranians shift protest movement to banknotes), the Central Bank of Iran said this week that it would no longer accept graffitied banknotes as valid currency.

Since the beginning of the Iranian Green Movement (the ink on the banknotes is often green, and the colour symbolizes the official colour of the opposition), the government has been struggling to deal with the rise of this covert protest movement.

At the beginning of December, The Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran deemed the Green Movement a success saying, “the Central Bank of Iran has tried to take these banknotes out of circulation, but there are just too many of them.”

The Central Bank is now telling people to exchange their graffitied banknotes for “clean” notes by January 8, 2010. After this period, any banknote with writing on it will be considered invalid.

The slogans on the banknotes oppose the recent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in what many, including Iranian reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, have deemed a “rigged election” at the hands of the government.

Since June, banknotes have been in circulation with messages like “In this country, only the government has freedom of speech. Don’t believe anything you hear,” “Khanmenei the dictator, Ahmadinejad the puppet” and “Death to the Dictator.”

The Green Movement has also reverted to other subtle protest tactics like spray painting on walls and using a rarely observed religious holiday for a three-day strike.

SOURCES:
Bloodwars Magazine: “Iran Bans Graffiti on Banknotes
Banknote News: “Iran to Withdraw Notes with Opposition Slogans.”
Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran: “Iranian banknotes uprising”

The word ‘Republic’ is replaced by ‘dictator,’ leaving ‘The Central Bank of the Islamic Dictatorship of Iran. SOURCE: observers.france24.com

Protesters in Iran have launched what they are calling a “second level” of protesting, shifting from overt public displays such as street demonstrations and rallies, to more covert tactics like writing protest notes and slogans on rial banknotes – the Iranian currency.

With staunch government crackdowns on protest movements throughout the country, pro-democracy protesters are focusing on banknotes because it is a high circulation mass-medium.

The Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran reported Sunday that the Green Movement (named as such because the messages are written in green ink) and its message is not only gaining in popularity, but is also proving itself effective:

“The Central Bank of Iran has tried to take these banknotes out of circulation, but there are just too many of them, [so they] gave up.”

The protests oppose the recent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in what many, including Iranian reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, have deemed a “rigged election” at the hands of the government.

French news website The Observers has posted several photos of the banknotes graffitied with messages like “In this country, only the government has freedom of speech. Don’t believe anything you hear” and “Khanmenei the dictator, Ahmadinejad the puppet.”

The Green Movement has also reverted to other subtle protest tactics like spray painting on walls and using a rarely observed religious holiday for a three-day strike.

SOURCES:
ABC News: “Iran protests continue despite crackdown”
The Observers: “The revolt of the banknotes”
Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran: “Iranian banknotes uprising”
CBC.ca: “Iran blames US for bitter post-election dispute”