Iranian MP says holders of foreign sourced currency will be allowed to use it for priority imports

Rouhollah Abbaspour, a member of the industries and mines committee of Iran's parliament, said on Saturday 1 August 2026 (10 Mordad 1405), in an interview with Iran's capital market news agency Sena, that a joint meeting between the committee and central bank officials agreed that holders of foreign sourced currency will be able to use those funds for essential imports, subject to the rules and within a set list of priorities.

He said the arrangement does not open the door to importing any goods, and covers only priority items such as raw materials for manufacturers, medicines and animal feed. Abbaspour added that about 12 billion dollars of foreign currency has been allocated to the production sector so far and that, in the view of the ministry of industry, mine and trade, that is not enough to cover all of the sector's needs, while the central bank sets out its own considerations on managing currency resources under present conditions.

He said the meeting also reviewed the currency needs of the industry ministry, the amount allocated last year and this year's currency performance, and that technical sessions on financing production and resolving energy imbalances at industrial units will continue after Arbaeen. The agreement has so far been announced through the statements of one member of parliament, and its operational detail depends on the central bank publishing formal rules.