Large sums of Iranian currency come into western Afghanistan every day and are exchanged for dollars, and then shipped back to Iran. There may be international sanctions against Iran, but in Afghan provinces that border the Islamic Republic, trade and money laundering are thriving.
The western Afghan city of Herat has become a thriving hub for the money exchange business, a consequence of geography and politics. Money-changers throng the currency market carrying thick stacks of Iranian currency, much of it brought in by the hundreds of thousands of Afghan workers who earn their living in Iran.
While the stacks of crisp 100,000 rial notes that money-changers bring to the market might look like a small fortune, the 10 million rials in each of these stacks is worth less than $400, because the Iranian currency recently lost more than half of its value.
Abdullah Dashti, who heads the Afghan money dealers union in Herat, says the money-changers are feeling the pinch of the international sanctions against Iran and are now looking to unload Iranian currency.
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