The Iranian rial (IRR) is the official currency of Iran. The rial trades at approximately 42,000 to the US dollar on the official government exchange rate and between 500,000 to 600,000 rials per dollar on the informal market as of 2024, though these rates fluctuate daily. The government of Iran introduced the toman as an unofficial accounting unit equal to 10 rials, and most price discussions occur in tomans rather than rials. In 2020, the Iranian parliament approved legislation to replace the rial with the toman as the official currency at a rate of one toman equaling 10,000 rials, but implementation has been repeatedly delayed. Banknotes circulate in denominations of 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 rials. The Central Bank of Iran issues currency and sets monetary policy from Tehran.
International sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, and United Nations beginning in 2006 and intensifying after 2018 have removed Iranian banks from the SWIFT international payment system. Iranian banks cannot process Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or any other international card network transactions. Foreign-issued debit and credit cards do not function at Iranian ATMs or point-of-sale terminals. Travelers to Iran must bring sufficient physical currency in US dollars, euros, or British pounds for their entire stay. Exchange offices operate in Tehran at Imam Khomeini International Airport, on Ferdowsi Street, and near major hotels. Banks including Bank Melli Iran and Bank Saderat Iran exchange foreign currency at branches in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Shiraz, though lines extend for hours during peak periods. Exchange offices typically offer better rates than banks by margins of 5 to 15 percent.
The Central Bank of Iran prohibits cryptocurrency trading and mining under regulations announced in 2019, though enforcement remains inconsistent. Police have seized cryptocurrency mining operations in Tehran and Kerman provinces, confiscating equipment valued at over $860 million according to statements by Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, an energy ministry official, in January 2022. Some Tehran exchange offices accept Bitcoin and Tether for conversion to rials through informal channels at rates 3 to 8 percent below market value to account for legal risk. Travelers should not rely on cryptocurrency for transactions in Iran.
Mobile money transfer services including Western Union, MoneyGram, and Wise do not operate in Iran due to sanctions. Iranian domestic services including Shaparak and Shetab process interbank transfers within Iran but connect only to Iranian bank accounts. No mechanism exists for international wire transfers into or out of Iranian banks from most countries. A limited number of transactions occur through intermediary banks in countries including Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Iraq, but these channels serve commercial transactions rather than tourism. Travelers cannot access funds from foreign bank accounts while in Iran.
Iran had approximately 88 million mobile phone subscribers as of 2023 according to the Communications Regulatory Authority of Iran. Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran (MCI, also known as Hamrah-e Aval), Irancell, and Rightel operate GSM networks on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequencies and 3G networks on 2100 MHz frequency. MCI launched 4G LTE service in 2014, with coverage in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, and other major cities expanding to cover approximately 85 percent of the urban population by 2023. 5G pilot programs began in Tehran in 2022 but commercial rollout has not occurred. International roaming agreements exist between Iranian carriers and operators in some countries, but sanctions have terminated most partnerships. Travelers from most countries cannot use international roaming in Iran.
Tourist SIM cards are available at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran and at mobile carrier stores in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Shiraz. MCI sells tourist SIM packages at counters in the arrivals hall of Terminal 1 at Imam Khomeini International Airport. Activation requires presentation of a passport. Tourist SIM cards include data packages ranging from 20 gigabytes to 100 gigabytes valid for periods of 30 to 90 days. A SIM card with 40 gigabytes of data valid for 30 days costs approximately 3 million rials as of 2024. Voice minutes are included but rates for international calls range from 15,000 to 40,000 rials per minute depending on destination. Registration requires fingerprint scanning at official carrier stores, implemented under regulations from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in 2021.
Iran implements extensive internet filtering through infrastructure controlled by the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company. The government blocks access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, and TikTok under regulations managed by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. Access to international news sites including BBC Persian, Voice of America Persian, and Radio Farda is blocked. Filtering intensified in September 2022 following protests, when authorities restricted mobile internet speeds to 2G levels and blocked additional messaging platforms. Throttling of mobile data connections to speeds below 128 kilobps occurs regularly during periods designated by authorities as politically sensitive.
Virtual Private Network (VPN) services allow access to blocked websites but face intermittent blocking. The government blocked many commercial VPN providers including NordVPN and ExpressVPN in 2022. Some VPN protocols including OpenVPN and WireGuard function with lower detection rates than others. Iranian law criminalizes unauthorized VPN use under amendments to the Computer Crimes Law passed in 2021, though enforcement targets domestic political activists rather than tourists. Sale of VPN subscriptions occurs openly at technology stores in Tehran bazaar and through Telegram channels. Iranian citizens and long-term residents widely use VPN services with estimated adoption rates between 60 and 80 percent of internet users, though precise statistics are not published.
WiFi networks operate at hotels, restaurants, and cafes in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, and other cities. Hotels provide WiFi passwords at check-in without additional fees at most properties in the three-star category and above. Connection speeds vary from 1 megabit per second to 20 megabits per second. The same content filtering applies to WiFi as to mobile data. Many cafes in Isfahan around Naqsh-e Jahan Square and in Tehran in the Darband and Velenjak neighborhoods offer WiFi to customers. Internet cafes operate in Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan, though their numbers have declined from peaks in the 2000s. Connection speeds at internet cafes range from 512 kilobits per second to 5 megabits per second, with hourly rates of approximately 300,000 to 500,000 rials.
Fixed broadband internet reaches approximately 12 million households according to 2023 data from the Communications Regulatory Authority. ADSL connections predominate, with fiber optic service (FTTH) available in portions of Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad. Advertised speeds for ADSL range from 4 megabits per second to 20 megabits per second, while fiber connections offer speeds up to 100 megabits per second. Actual speeds typically measure 40 to 70 percent of advertised rates. International bandwidth constraints limit speeds for accessing servers outside Iran. Domestic Iranian websites and services load at higher speeds than international sites due to routing and filtering infrastructure.
Electronic payment within Iran uses the Shetab network, operated by the Central Bank of Iran subsidiary Shaparak. Iranian debit cards issued by Bank Melli Iran, Bank Saderat Iran, Parsian Bank, and other domestic banks function at ATMs and point-of-sale terminals throughout the country. Payment cards display logos for Shetab rather than international networks. Iranian e-commerce sites including Digikala and Snapp accept Shetab card payments. Cash remains the predominant payment method at restaurants, shops, and markets. Larger hotels and tour operators accept Iranian debit cards but require cash deposits from foreign tourists who lack Iranian bank accounts.
Some Iranian banks issue prepaid cards that tourists can load with rials for use in Shetab network transactions. Mah Card, offered by Bank Melli Iran, and Tourism Card, available through the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, allow currency exchange into a card account. Availability of tourist payment cards varies by location and time, with distribution sometimes suspended for months. Tourist cards require passport verification and can be loaded at designated bank branches in Tehran at locations including the branch at Ferdowsi Square and the Imam Khomeini International Airport branch. Load limits range from 500 million to 2 billion rials. Cards function at major hotels and some restaurants in Tehran and Isfahan but acceptance remains limited compared to cash.