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Iran's rial currency plummeted to near-record lows Thursday amid mounting concerns in Tehran that European nations may initiate a process to reinstate UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, further pressuring the country's struggling economy.
In Tehran on Thursday, the rial was trading at over 1 million to $1. During the 2015 agreement, it exchanged at 32,000 to $1, illustrating the currency's dramatic decline since that time.
The rial reached its lowest point ever in April at 1,043,000 rials to $1.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom cautioned earlier this month that Iran could activate a "snapback" mechanism when it suspended inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency following Israeli strikes in June.
The mechanism by the diplomats who incorporated it into Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, was crafted to be veto-proof within the international body and would likely take effect following a 30-day period.
In a letter dated August 8, three European nations issued a warning to Iran, stating they would initiate the "snapback" process by the end of August if Tehran failed to provide a "satisfactory solution" to nuclear issues.
Should it be enacted, the measure would once again freeze Iranian assets overseas, block arms transactions with Tehran and impose penalties on any advancement of its ballistic missile program, along with other sanctions.
The snapback mechanism in the deal is set to expire on October 18. Under the snapback provision, any party to the deal can declare Iran noncompliant, which would trigger renewed sanctions.
Attempting to utilise the "snapback" mechanism will likely escalate tensions between Iran and the West in a Middle East still ablaze over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Iran initially dismissed the possibility of reinstated sanctions and showed minimal diplomatic activity for weeks following Europe's ultimatum, but has recently launched a brief diplomatic offensive.
Iran has consistently maintained that its program is peaceful, despite assessments from Western nations and the IAEA suggesting that Tehran had an active nuclear weapons program until 2003.
The extent to which the Israeli and U.S. strikes on nuclear sites during the war disrupted Iran's program remains uncertain.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi last week revealed Iran's pessimistic outlook on its diplomatic relations with the West, particularly as the Israelis launched the conflict just as a sixth round of talks with the US was scheduled to begin.
"Weren't we in the talks when the war happened? So, negotiation alone cannot prevent war," Araghchi told the state-run IRNA news agency. "Sometimes war is inevitable and diplomacy alone is not able to prevent it."
As part of the 2015 agreement, Iran consented to give the IAEA even more access to its nuclear program than the agency has in other member countries. This included the permanent installation of cameras and sensors at nuclear sites.
Other devices, known as online enrichment monitors, gauged the uranium enrichment level at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.
IAEA inspectors regularly visited Iranian sites to conduct surveys, occasionally collecting environmental samples with cotton clothes and swabs for testing at IAEA labs in Austria. Some monitored Iranian sites using satellite imagery.
However, IAEA inspectors, who have faced increasing restrictions on their activities since the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal in 2018, have not yet accessed those sites. Meanwhile, Iran claims it relocated uranium and other equipment before the strikes - potentially to new, undisclosed locations that increase the risk of losing track of the program's status.
On Wednesday, IAEA inspectors were present to observe a fuel replacement at Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor, which operates with Russian technical assistance.
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