Alanchand

Alanchand is an Iranian platform that monitors and publishes the USD/IRR exchange rate on Iran's open (unofficial) market, distinct from the official Central Bank rate. It became the primary cited source for rial pricing during the Iran conflict, with its data used to track the rial's depreciation to a record 1,746,000 to the dollar on 1 June 2026, followed by a partial recovery to 1,716,000 by 3 June, the first rial gains since the conflict began, driven by Rubio's sequencing signal at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That recovery proved temporary: by 21 July, Alanchand's free-market rate had slid to 189,300-189,450 toman to the dollar, roughly 1.89 million rial, a renewed daily fall of 1,000-1,600 toman.

Iran's official and open-market exchange rates diverge sharply under sanctions pressure. The Central Bank sets an official rate used for essential imports, but most market participants and currency traders use the open-market rate, which Alanchand tracks in real time. During the conflict, the rial had fallen 43% against the dollar between the war's outbreak and its record low on 1 June.

Alanchand's role is analogous to that of informal currency trackers in other heavily sanctioned economies: it provides price discovery that the official system cannot supply. The designation of Nobitex, which had served as the Central Bank's stablecoin rail to defend the rial, on the same day the rial began its partial recovery creates a complex picture in which diplomatic optimism outweighs the loss of the principal currency-defence mechanism.