NIAC Condemns Arrests of Aid Workers in Iran

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) today condemned the Iranian government's arrests of aid workers providing for earthquake relief in northern Iran. NIAC called on the government to end all practices of arrest and intimidation that violate Iranian and international human rights law.

"The Iranian government's disgraceful arrest of aid workers shows how much the regime fears its own people when they organize and take matters into their own hands," said NIAC President Trita Parsi.  "When the government punishes the Iranian people for their initiative and self-empowerment, it demonstrates how this regime sustains its grip on power through repression and disempowerment of its own population."

Parsi to Replace Rial as National Currency

Rial to Lose Four Zeros to Become Parsi

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced today that it will send legislature to the Majlis establishing a new national currency, tentatively named parsi, by eliminating four zeros from the current rial. Based on today’s foreign exchange rates, the parsi will be worth 87 cents (0.87 USD).

The deputy governor of CBI, Hossein Qazavi, told reporters in Tehran that parsi as the proposed name for the new currency was the choice of the majority of respondents in a nationwide poll that was conducted in the past 48 hours [Fars News Agency, 19 July].