Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

A group of Iraqi and Iranian traders are profiting from exchange-rate gaps by cycling Iranian currency through electronic accounts before transferring it back to Iran, an exchange dealer in the Kurdistan Region’s Al-Sulaymaniyah province told Shafaq News on Wednesday.

“Some Iranian merchants arrive in the province carrying cash in Iranian toman to sell locally,” he said, adding that they then repurchase the same currency, deposit it into bank cards or electronic accounts, and transfer it back to Iran as part of a structured “currency rotation” process. “The profit hinges on disparities in the dollar-to-toman rate. In Iran’s parallel market, $100 currently equals about 16 million toman, meaning $10,000 amounts to roughly 160 million toman.”

According to the trader, each $10,000 cycle can generate between 35 million and 40 million toman in gains, equivalent to nearly half a million Iraqi dinars.

Part of the transaction is completed inside Iran through intermediaries or exchange offices that charge commissions estimated at around 1.5 million toman per $100,000, or roughly 150,000 toman for a $10,000 transfer.

The dealer stressed that the practice does not involve all currency market participants but is limited to a small number of traders, both Iranian and Iraqi, who rely on electronic payment cards or bank accounts to execute the transfers.

Other currency traders in Al-Sulaymaniyah declined to comment when contacted by Shafaq News.