Tehran's free-market US dollar rate jumped about 1.19 percent (roughly 2,200 tomans) on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 (20 Mordad 1405), to reach 187,800 tomans. The move ended a five-session losing streak that ran from Wednesday, August 5 through Monday, August 10, a stretch Iranian financial daily Donya-e-Eqtesad called the longest losing run of the year for the currency market, which had pushed the rate to a one-month low.
Alongside the dollar, Tehran's 18-karat gold and the Emami gold coin also rose, and Brent crude jumped nearly 5 percent to clear $87 a barrel again. The common driver behind all three moves was the return of a Strait of Hormuz risk premium to Tuesday's trading.
Background
The dollar's decline began on Wednesday, August 5, coinciding with growing speculation about a possible joint Iran-Oman statement on a mechanism for commercial ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Donya-e-Eqtesad reported that market participants also cited the continued presence of a market maker supplying dollars in the spot market as a factor capping the rate over those five sessions. The slide, which had never before run longer than four consecutive sessions, reached a one-month low on Monday, August 10; that day, quoted selling rates for a US dollar banknote ranged from 181,500 to 184,500 tomans, with 183,000 tomans both the market midpoint and the most frequently quoted rate, while Sahmino's own board showed Monday's closing rate at 185,600 tomans.
That one-month low sits nearly 5 percent below the dollar's all-time high of 194,500 tomans, recorded on 27 Tir 1405 (July 18, 2026). In other words, over roughly three weeks the dollar swung from a record high to a one-month low and, as of Tuesday, back to near where it stood a week earlier.
The numbers
| Item | Value | Date | Source |
|---|
| Free-market dollar rate (close/live) | 187,800 to 187,820 tomans, up 1.1 to 1.19 percent | Tuesday, Aug 11, 9:37pm Tehran time | TGJU (live) and Bourse News |
| Dollar sell rate, Alanchand | About 187,450 tomans | Tuesday, Aug 11, midday | Alanchand (via Bourse News) |
| Free-market dollar rate | 187,500 tomans, up 0.92 percent | Tuesday, Aug 11, evening | Ecoiran |
| Tuesday's dollar trading range | Low 185,180 to high 188,020 tomans | Tuesday, Aug 11 | TGJU (live) |
| Monday's closing dollar rate | 185,600 tomans | Monday, Aug 10 | TGJU |
| Dollar's all-time high | 194,500 tomans | 27 Tir 1405 (July 18, 2026) | TGJU |
| 18-karat gold | 19,074,000 tomans, up 1.41 percent | Tuesday, Aug 11 | Bourse News |
| Emami gold coin | 188,990,000 to 189,100,000 tomans | Tuesday, Aug 11 | Bourse News and Ecoiran |
| Brent crude | $87.70 (morning) to $89.93 (midday), up as much as 2.44 percent on the day | Tuesday, Aug 11 | Bourse News and Sahmino's own price feed |
Drivers
The dollar's rebound was driven by the same underlying factor that had pushed it down the week before: the Strait of Hormuz risk premium. Iran has tied a safe reopening of the strait to six conditions, including an end to a US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Yemeni sources separately reported a strike on a ship carrying military equipment belonging to Saudi Arabia in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and two explosions at Saudi forces' positions in Yemen's Marib province; Houthi forces had earlier claimed a drone strike on Saudi Arabia's Jazan refinery. Taken together, this cluster of developments returned a geopolitical risk premium to the dollar, gold and oil markets after several calmer days.
In global markets, Brent crude extended its rally to a fifth straight session, and Bourse News reported that a drop in US strategic petroleum reserves to about 298.7 million barrels, their lowest level since 1983, added to the rally. Global gold also gained 4.87 percent over the trailing week; per Ecoiran's analysis, that global ounce move, not the exchange rate, was the main driver of the week's rise in domestic gold, though Tuesday's dollar jump added to it.
Outlook
This section is an assessment, not a firm prediction. Whether the rebound holds depends on two parallel tracks: first, whether Iran's six conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz make progress in the coming days, or whether the reported tensions in Bab-el-Mandeb and Marib escalate further; second, whether the market maker that had been supplying dollars into the spot market last week returns to cap the rate again. Neither path is settled as of this writing.
Bottom line
Tehran's free-market dollar jumped more than 1 percent on Tuesday, August 11, ending its five-day slide, the longest losing run of the year for the currency market, and climbing from a one-month low back above 187,800 tomans. The move came alongside gains in gold, the coin and a 5 percent jump in Brent crude, all three driven by the return of a Strait of Hormuz risk premium, the same force that had pushed the dollar down the week before. The takeaway for households: this week's dollar swing changed direction on Hormuz headlines, not on any durable economic trend.
What to watch
In the coming days, watch whether the dollar holds above the 187,000-toman line or slides back into last week's downtrend, whether and when a possible joint Iran-Oman statement on Hormuz is published, and whether the reported strikes in Bab-el-Mandeb and Marib escalate into larger confirmed events or fade.
For the four channels that set Iran's dollar rate, see this Sahmino lesson. Full background on the Strait of Hormuz developments and Monday's Brent jump is in this report, and the Emami coin's negative premium is examined in this analysis. Track the live dollar rate on Sahmino's dollar price page.
