Claim and fact: Abdolnaser Hemmati and the claim of curbing inflation

Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the Islamic Republic's central bank, claimed in an interview with Bloomberg that inflation, which surged sharply after the 40-day war, "eased" in the three months to the end of Shahrivar 1405 (22 September 2026). The Islamic Republic government's official news agency published the remarks on Friday, 23 October, under the headline of controlling the "rapid trend of inflation". The available data, including figures from the regime's own institutions, show a different picture of inflation in Iran.

The central bank governor's claim

Hemmati had earlier told a meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Bangkok that claims of a collapse of Iran's economy were an "illusion", and called curbing inflation and stabilising inflation expectations the central bank's priority. In recent months he has also repeatedly said that the country's monetary crisis has been "brought under control" and that runaway inflation has not occurred.

What the data show

According to figures from the Islamic Republic's Statistical Centre cited by Reuters, annual inflation reached 73.6% in Shahrivar (August–September), higher than in the preceding months and among the highest rates in decades. Data from Bonbast, a currency-rate tracking site, show that the rial has lost nearly 35% of its value against the US dollar since the Iranian month of Tir (late June).

In the Tehran market, the US dollar reached 272,000 tomans on Thursday, 22 October, and the cost of a simple home-cooked meal for a family of four passed two million tomans, as DIAR reported earlier. Rents in Tehran, Karaj, Ahvaz, Shiraz and Mashhad have risen up to threefold. At the same time, Hamrah-e Aval and Irancell raised the rates for calls, text messages and internet by up to 40% from the early hours of Friday, 23 October.

A temporary slowdown in the monthly growth of prices, even if it has happened, does not mean goods are cheaper or that inflation has been curbed: prices are still rising at a rate of more than 70% a year, and the fall of the rial, the main engine of imported inflation, has accelerated in recent months.

DIAR's verdict

The claim of "controlling the rapid trend of inflation" is misleading. By highlighting a short period, the central bank governor hides the fact that annual inflation, according to the regime's own statistics, has passed 70%, that the rial has lost a third of its value in three months, and that a new wave of price rises for basic services began this very week.

Annual inflation of 73.6% and a 35% fall of the rial since late June contradict the claim that inflation has been curbed.