Iran moves to strike 4 zeroes from its battered currency

Iran's president sent a bill to parliament Wednesday that would cut four zeroes from the value of the Islamic Republic's sanctions-battered currency, the rial, as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington.

If passed by parliament and approved by lawmakers, Iran's Central Bank would in effect devalue the rial and rename it as toman.

Iran's rial has been battered by increasing U.S. sanctions on the country since President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers over a year ago.

On Wednesday, the rial traded 116,500 to $1. At the time of the 2015 nuclear deal, the rial traded 32,000 to the dollar.