TEHRAN: Iran’s security forces have arrested a Saudi national at an airport in Khorasan Razavi province, eastern Iran, for smuggling dollar, local officials have reported. “We received reports from Mashhad Customs on a Saudi national who intended to carry 44,700 U.S. dollars out of the country,” said Hamid Reza Karim, an official with an organization in charge of punishing law violations, on Saturday. Reportedly, the Saudi national had been carrying 44,700 U.S. dollars in cash when stopped by security forces at Shahid Hasheminejad airport.
Initially, the Saudi national had rejected requests by security forces for documents showing that he had bought the cash in authorized currency exchanges. Under Iran’s regulations, foreign exchanges exceeding $5,000 are possible only through currency declaration forms or authorized documents issued by Iranian banks. The defendant has been fined nearly 55,000 U.S. dollars, and is now held in custody for not affording the fine, Karim explained.
Neither Iran’s Foreign Ministry nor Saudi Arabia’s has made comments so far. Over the past two weeks, Iran’s national currency rial has devalued against the U.S. dollar, causing a mayhem in the market. Although the Rouhani administration has linked the devaluation to concerns over U.S. President-elect Donald Trump taking office in less than a month, it has announced it pumps dollars into the market to help ease the rising rates.
