Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.4
Trend:
Seyed Ahmad Araqchi has just been sacked from his position as the Central Bank of Iran's deputy for foreign exchange affairs, a report said.
Araqchi was fired as Iranians are scrambling for US dollars as Iran's currency, the rial, plummets to historic lows amid economic and political uncertainty ahead of new US sanctions, Tasnim news agency reported on August 4.
Araqchi obtained his bachelor’s degree in economics from Shahid Beheshti University and his master’s in economics from Tehran University, according to the official website of the central bank. He obtained another master’s degree in financial management from New York University.
The dismissal came after the Iranian president on July 25 appointed a public banker and economic expert as the head of the country’s central bank.
President Hassan Rouhani picked Abdolnaser Hemmati to run the country’s financial regulator. Hemmati replaced outgoing central bank head Valiollah Seif.
Hemmati ran the public Melli bank in Iran. He also served as the head of the country’s Iran Insurance Company.
Hemmati has taken over the central bank as new US sanctions against Tehran are on the way and the country's economic situation is broken.
Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May, and Washington plans to reimpose sanctions on Tehran next month. The first round of US sanctions on Iran goes into effect in August, followed by ones targeting Iran's oil exports in November.