Iran: Teachers Strike (Update)

The notice held by one protesting teacher on the top reads"I teach the pupils love and freedom so that the world knows our ancient culture and civilisation was all about this". (Oh, no, she'll be fired shortly. Doesn't she know pre-Islamic Iran never existed and there was never a Persian Empire in the eyes of Islamist?)


The sign on the right says: "our salaries are in Rial (Iranian currency) but the living expenses are in dollars."

In 1979, 1 rial equaled to $0.0141. The value of Iran's currency has declined precipitously after the Islamic revolution.[1]. Whereas on 15 March 1978, 71.46 rials equaled one U.S. dollar, in July 1999, 9430 rials amounted to one dollar. However, the value of rial has become more stable since 1999 as the economy of Iran has been growing rapidly and independently. (See Iran Currency Exchange Rate History: 1975 - 2006).

Until 2002, Iran’s exchange rate system was based on a multi-layered system, where state and para-state enterprises benefited from the preferred rate (1750 rial for $1) while the private sector had to pay the market rate (8000 rial for $1), hence creating an unhealthy competition environment. However, in March 2002, the multi-tiered system was replaced by a unified, market-driven exchange rate.
Exchange rates: rials per US dollar - 9,246.94 (2006), 8,964 (2005), 8,885 (2004), 8,193.89 (2003), 6,906.96 (2002), 1,753.56 (2001), 1,764.43 (2000)

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