KARACHI: It may seem strange, but it is true that the Iranian rial gained strength during the war and that demand is still rising, said currency dealers.

Before the war, which started on Feb 28, the Iranian rial was hardly considered a tradable currency, and 10 million rials were available for just Rs2,500.

Experts said the war influenced the Iranian rial, leading to some positive changes in the psyche of people involved in buying currency.

However, currency dealers said that trading with Iran has increased during the war, thereby boosting demand for the currency. A two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, brokered by Pakistan, is in effect and will end on April 21.

Trade of food, diesel rises amid ongoing conflict

They said that media reports indicated Tehran had succeeded in selling 30 per cent more oil, signalling that the Iranian rial will gain strength once the war ends permanently.

“There are two types of currency buyers. Traders are purchasing since the volume of merchandise deals has increased while the ambitious investors anticipate yielding huge profits with higher prices of the Iranian rial in future,” said Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan Chairman Malik Bostan.

He said the Iranian rial is available at Rs10,000 per ten million, which is four times the pre-war price; however, he said trading in the rial has increased significantly. The traders are accepting Iranian rials for their exports and selling them in the local market. The importers are buying rial to import from Iran.

The two countries have been trading for years, but the volume of trade is never mentioned in the official documents.

The current trading between the two countries was around $3bn, while Iran is willing to raise the food and essential goods from $1.3bn to $3bn.

In a post on Sept 17, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired an inter-ministerial meeting on Pakistan-Iran relations and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to expanding bilateral engagement with Iran across priority sectors. Both countries are willing to increase trade to $10bn by 2028.

Iran exported around $2.423bn worth of goods to Pakistan during March 2024-March 2025, while imports from Pakistan stood at $706 million. However, some experts said the situation has changed since the war, which is still looming over the region. They said that unless the war is over, trading with Iran and the future of the Iranian rial are uncertain.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026