WANA (Sep 30) – Yesterday afternoon, as Afghanistan experienced a nationwide internet blackout, Tehran’s currency market faced an unexpected development. The popular Telegram channels known as “Tehran Dollar,” which usually publish real-time exchange rates, suddenly stopped updating, leaving their last posted prices unchanged.

 

Investigations reveal that the management of these channels—long seen as highly influential in shaping market sentiment in Iran’s currency trade—was largely based in Afghanistan. With the country’s internet down, the administrators lost access, halting their rate-pushing activity entirely.

 

Market observers note that the timing of these two events highlights the extent to which parts of Iran’s exchange-rate narrative are dependent on cross-border actors. According to them, this incident demonstrates that some of the most impactful forces shaping expectations in Tehran are not operating from Ferdowsi Square or Sabzeh Meydan, but from beyond Iran’s borders.

 

The disruption has also renewed calls for greater transparency regarding the identity and motives of these virtual exchange-rate sources—networks that collapse with a single external outage, revealing their vulnerability to foreign-based dynamics.

The American flag is seen on a sign at a currency exchange in Tehran, Iran, September 27, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)