Iran's Redenomination: Four Zeros Off the Rial, the New Qiran, and What Happened to the Toman Plan
Iran has been preparing to drop four zeros from its money for more than thirty years, and the preparation is printed on the banknotes themselves. Since 2020 the Central Bank of Iran has been issuing notes and cheques whose corners, watermarks and security features already carry the smaller number the country plans to switch to. The law finally passed in late 2025. The notes have not changed yet.
10,000 old rials = 1 new rial Law passed October 5, 2025 New subunit: the qiran No new-rial note issued yet
Last updated: September 2026
Iran's redenomination takes four zeros off the rial: 10,000 old rials become one new rial. Parliament passed the law on October 5, 2025 and the Guardian Council approved it on November 8, 2025. Earlier drafts would have renamed the unit the toman; the final text keeps the rial and adds a subunit, the qiran. No new-rial banknote has been reported.
What is Iran's rial to toman redenomination?
It is a plan to divide every rial figure by 10,000, so that 10,000 current rials become one unit of the redenominated currency. Successive drafts called that unit the toman, the name Iranians already use in daily speech. The version that became law on October 5, 2025 keeps the name rial and introduces a new subunit called the qiran, worth one hundredth of a rial.
The two names matter, because they are not interchangeable. In everyday Iranian speech a toman is ten rials, an informal unit that predates any reform. The 2019 and 2020 bills proposed something different: a new toman equal to 10,000 rials, subdivided into 100 parsehs. When the Iranian parliament approved that version on May 4, 2020, the reporting was explicit that the national currency unit would change from the rial to the toman at 10,000 rials to one toman, with a two-year transition (Radio Farda, May 4, 2020).
That is why search results still describe this as a rial to toman change. The ratio has not moved in any draft since 2019: it has always been 10,000 to one. What changed in 2025 is the label on the new unit and the name of its subdivision. If you want the wider context of Iran's paper money, from the Pahlavi issues to the revolution overprints and the Khomeini portrait series, start with our Iran country guide.
What does the 2025 law actually change?
It amends the Monetary and Banking Law to define the rial as equal to 10,000 current rials, creates the qiran at one hundredth of a rial, allows old and new units to circulate together for up to three years, and gives the Central Bank of Iran two years from enactment to establish operational procedures and announce the start of the changeover publicly.
Parliament passed the measure on October 5, 2025 with 144 votes in favor, 108 against and three abstentions out of 262 members present. Shamseddin Hosseini, head of parliament's economic committee, said the purpose was to make banknotes more functional and to ease financial transactions, and acknowledged that removing zeros would not by itself reduce inflation. After the transition period, all financial obligations denominated in the current rial are to be settled in the new unit, and the central bank is responsible for withdrawing old banknotes and coins (Iran International, October 5, 2025).
The Guardian Council, the body that reviews every bill for conformity with the constitution, cleared the text on November 8, 2025. Spokesperson Hadi Tahan Nazif told a press briefing in Tehran that after amendments by parliament the council found the bill not inconsistent with the constitution, and said the law would be implemented gradually over a transition period of several years so that preparations could be made (Mehr News Agency, November 8, 2025).
The committee stage set out the mechanics earliest. On August 3, 2025 the economic committee approved the outline of the motion, and Hosseini described it as creating a new rial equal to 10,000 current rials, subdivided into 100 qirans, restoring a currency subdivision Iran had used historically. He noted that the earlier government bill would instead have renamed the currency, and that the central bank had already printed banknotes with the last four digits in a much paler color so that the public could adapt gradually (Mehr News Agency, August 4, 2025).
| Date | Step | What it provided |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Government bill | Rename the rial the toman at 10,000 to one, with general outlines endorsed by parliament the same year |
| May 4, 2020 | Parliament approves the details | New toman equal to 10,000 rials, subdivided into 100 parsehs, two-year transition |
| August 3, 2025 | Economic committee approves a new motion | New rial equal to 10,000 current rials, subdivided into 100 qirans; the rial name is kept |
| October 5, 2025 | Full parliament passes the measure | 144 in favor, 108 against, three abstentions, of 262 present; up to three years of parallel circulation |
| November 8, 2025 | Guardian Council approval | Found not inconsistent with the constitution; implementation described as gradual over several years |
Sources: Radio Farda, May 4, 2020; Mehr News Agency, August 4, 2025 and November 8, 2025; Iran International, October 5, 2025.
Has the redenomination happened yet?
No. As of September 2026 the law is in place but the currency has not changed. No banknote or cheque denominated in new rials has been reported, and the most recent issue from the Central Bank of Iran, the 10,000,000 rial Iran Cheque introduced on March 3, 2026, is denominated in the existing rial.
That last point is the clearest test available. The Banknote Book, the standard reference that tracks new world paper money issue by issue, records the 10,000,000 rial Iran Cheque as catalog number B305, introduced on March 3, 2026, printed by TAKAB at 156 by 71 millimeters, with the Jameh Mosque in Yazd on the front and the Arg-e Bam citadel on the back (BanknoteNews, March 26, 2026). The MRI Bankers' Guide recorded the same issue the day after it appeared (MRI Bankers' Guide, March 4, 2026). A signature variety of the same cheque followed, catalogued B305b, confirmed on July 2, 2026 (BanknoteNews). Every one of those is an old-rial instrument.
The law gives the central bank two years from enactment to set the procedures and to announce the start of the change through official media, and it allows old and new units to circulate side by side for up to three years after that. On the published timetable, then, a new-rial banknote is a future event rather than a current one. Anything offered today as an Iranian "new rial" or "new toman" note should be treated with care until the central bank has announced an issue. Our guides to spotting counterfeit banknotes and to replicas and novelty notes cover what tends to appear around a publicized currency change.
Which Iranian notes already show the reduced figure?
Most of the current family does. Since 2020 the Central Bank of Iran has printed the post-reform number on its notes and cheques, in the corners, in the watermark and in the color-shifting SPARK feature, while the full rial figure stays on the note in a paler tone. A 100,000 rial note carries a 10. A 10,000,000 rial cheque carries a 1,000.
The Banknote Book flagged this at the time. Reporting the redesigned 100,000 rial note in November 2020, it noted that the denomination is expressed as 10 in the corners front and back, "further indication that the CBI is preparing to revalue the rial by removing four zeroes" (BanknoteNews, November 17, 2020). Matching 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 rial notes followed, catalogued B298 through B300 (BanknoteNews, February 8, 2021).
| Denomination | Instrument | Catalog | Value in the reduced unit | Where that figure appears | Status, September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 rials | Banknote, Avicenna Mausoleum in Hamadan | B298 | 1 | Corners, with the rial figure de-emphasized | In circulation |
| 20,000 rials | Banknote, Maqbaratoshoara in Tabriz | B299 | 2 | Corners, with the rial figure de-emphasized | In circulation |
| 50,000 rials | Banknote, Tomb of Hafez in Shiraz | B300 | 5 | Corners, with the rial figure de-emphasized | In circulation |
| 100,000 rials | Banknote, Tomb of Saadi in Shiraz | B301 | 10 | Corners, front and back | In circulation; highest legal tender note |
| 500,000 rials | Iran Cheque, Imam Reza Shrine and Mount Damavand | B302.5 | 50 | Gold-to-green SPARK and watermark electrotype | In circulation, introduced March 2025 |
| 1,000,000 rials | Iran Cheque, Tachara at Persepolis and later designs | Not verified here | 100 | Not verified here | In circulation |
| 2,000,000 rials | Iran Cheque, Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan | B303 | 200 | Not verified here | In circulation, dated 2025 |
| 5,000,000 rials | Iran Cheque, Agha Bozorg Mosque in Kashan and the tomb of Ferdowsi | B304 | 500 | Gold-to-green SPARK and watermark electrotype | In circulation, introduced September 2025 |
| 10,000,000 rials | Iran Cheque, Jameh Mosque in Yazd and the Arg-e Bam citadel | B305 | 1,000 | Gold-to-green SPARK and watermark electrotype | In circulation, introduced March 3, 2026 |
Catalog numbers, designs, security features and introduction dates per The Banknote Book as published by BanknoteNews (500,000 rial cheque, October 27, 2025), BanknoteNews (5,000,000 rial cheque, February 9, 2026) and the entries cited above. Values in the reduced unit are the arithmetic result of the 10,000 to one ratio set out in the 2025 law.
Iran printed the answer before it passed the law. The 5,000,000 rial Iran Cheque carries 500 in its gold-to-green SPARK feature and as a watermark electrotype. The 10,000,000 rial cheque carries 1,000. Divide the rial figure by 10,000 and you get the number already on the paper, which is exactly what the October 2025 law makes official.
What are Iran cheques and why do they matter here?
Iran cheques are bearer instruments issued by the Central Bank of Iran that look and spend like banknotes but are not classified as banknotes. They exist because the highest legal tender note is 100,000 rials, far below the sums people handle, so the central bank issues cheques in 500,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000, 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 rials instead.
The arrangement began with state banks printing their own bearer cheques with fixed amounts in the form of banknotes. Two kinds circulated: one that could be cashed at any financial institution, known as the Iran cheque, and one redeemable only at the issuing bank. In 2008 the central bank withdrew that privilege from the banks and began issuing Iran cheques itself. They circulate freely and are treated as cash, which is why a collector who wants the top of the Iranian denomination ladder is collecting cheques rather than notes.
They also carry full banknote security. The 10,000,000 rial cheque has a 2.5 millimeter gold-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized lettering, a second solid thread with printed script, a watermark with an archway and an electrotype figure, and a puzzle-number registration device that completes when the note is held to the light. Our reference on banknote security features explains each of those, and catalog numbering explains how B-numbers from The Banknote Book relate to the Pick system.
Signatures are the other collectible variable. The 500,000, 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 rial cheques were first issued under the signature of Mohammad Reza Farzin. A second signature variety of the 10,000,000 cheque, catalogued B305b and signed by Abdolnaser Hemmati, was confirmed on July 2, 2026, and a new signature combination of the 100,000 rial note, catalogued B301f, was confirmed on June 8, 2026 (BanknoteNews). For a currency about to be replaced, each new signature closes off a short, dateable variety.
How many times has Iran tried this before?
Repeatedly, over more than three decades. Reporting the Guardian Council's approval in November 2025, Mehr News Agency noted that the idea of removing zeros from the rial was first proposed 34 years earlier and had been discussed under several administrations without ever being pursued to completion. Between then and now the proposal changed its ratio, its name and its sponsoring government more than once without reaching the paper.
The documented sequence runs like this. Radio Farda dated the modern push to 2008, under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after which it lay dormant because of the complications of changing a currency. Iran International records that the plan was formally proposed by the government in 2019 and then travelled through three administrations and several parliamentary terms, with earlier efforts raised under Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani. Parliament approved the details of the toman version on May 4, 2020. The parliament's economic committee then said in August 2025 that the older bill had been unwound in 2023, when parliament passed a new law on how the Central Bank of Iran is governed, which is why a fresh motion was needed at all.
Turkey is the comparison Iranian legislators reach for, and it is a fair one. Law No. 5083 on the Currency Unit of the Republic of Türkiye, dated January 28, 2004, dropped six zeros from the lira. The resulting E8 emission group of six denominations, from 1 to 100 New Turkish liras, entered circulation on January 1, 2005, the word "New" was dropped from the name on January 1, 2009, and the E8 notes were withdrawn on January 1, 2010 with a redemption period that ran to December 31, 2019 (Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye). Syria ran a much smaller version of the same operation in 2026, removing two zeros in a single year, which we document on our Syria 2026 redenomination page. For the full field, see every currency redenomination since 1923.
What does this mean for collectors of rial notes?
It puts an end date on a whole series. Once the changeover begins, every rial note and cheque now in circulation becomes a closed chapter with a fixed surviving population, and the pieces that already carry the reduced figure become the most legible artifacts of a redenomination that took thirty years to legislate.
Three collecting angles follow from the record above. The first is the transitional design itself. A 100,000 rial note that prints 10 in its corners, or a 10,000,000 rial cheque whose watermark reads 1,000, is a note that tells you what is about to happen to it. That is unusual. Most currencies redesign after a reform, not before one.
The second is the top of the ladder. The 10,000,000 rial Iran Cheque of March 2026 is the highest denomination the Central Bank of Iran has ever put into circulation, and it arrived at the tail end of the old unit's life. High-water denominations issued just before a currency change tend to be short-lived by design, which is the pattern our explainer on demonetization describes across many currencies.
The third is condition and completeness. Because Iran cheques and modern notes reach collectors in bundles, Uncirculated examples are readily available, and there is little reason to settle for less on material this recent. Uncirculated sits at the top of the ladder that runs UNC, AU, XF, VF, F, VG and G; our banknote grading guide explains the scale and how to store banknotes covers keeping a note at that grade. Iran's is a long, grinding inflation rather than a sudden collapse, so it does not appear in the record cases ranked on every hyperinflation ranked, but the denomination ladder tells the same story more slowly.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Iran changing the rial to the toman?
Not under the law that passed. Bills in 2019 and 2020 would have renamed the currency the toman at 10,000 rials to one toman, subdivided into 100 parsehs. The motion that parliament passed on October 5, 2025 and the Guardian Council approved on November 8, 2025 keeps the name rial, sets one new rial equal to 10,000 current rials, and introduces a subunit called the qiran worth one hundredth of a rial.
What is the Iran redenomination ratio?
Ten thousand current rials become one unit of the redenominated currency, which is a removal of four zeros. That ratio has been constant across every draft since 2019, whether the new unit was called the toman or the rial. Under the 2025 law the old and new units may circulate in parallel for up to three years, and the central bank has two years from enactment to set the operating procedures and announce the start.
Has Iran issued new banknotes after the redenomination law?
No banknote or cheque denominated in the new unit has been reported as of September 2026. The most recent issue from the Central Bank of Iran is the 10,000,000 rial Iran Cheque introduced on March 3, 2026, which is denominated in the existing rial and catalogued as B305 in The Banknote Book. A second signature variety of that cheque was confirmed in July 2026, also in old rials.
Why do Iranian banknotes show two different numbers?
Because the central bank has been preparing the public for the change since 2020. Notes and cheques print the post-reform figure prominently, in the corners or in the watermark and the color-shifting SPARK feature, while the full rial figure appears in a paler tone. A 100,000 rial note shows a 10, a 5,000,000 rial cheque shows a 500, and a 10,000,000 rial cheque shows a 1,000.
What is an Iran cheque?
An Iran cheque is a bearer instrument issued by the Central Bank of Iran that circulates and is accepted like a banknote without being classified as one. State banks issued their own versions until 2008, when the central bank took the role over. Because the highest legal tender note is 100,000 rials, the cheques cover the larger values, currently 500,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000, 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 rials.
What is the highest denomination Iranian note?
The 10,000,000 rial Iran Cheque, introduced on March 3, 2026, is the largest face value the Central Bank of Iran has put into circulation. It shows the Jameh Mosque in Yazd on the front and the Arg-e Bam citadel on the back, measures 156 by 71 millimeters, and was printed by TAKAB. Among instruments classified as banknotes, the 100,000 rial note remains the highest.
Will old Iranian rial notes still be collectible after the change?
Yes, and arguably more so. A redenomination fixes the surviving population of the old series on a known date, which is what turns circulating paper into a closed collecting field. The notes and cheques that already print the reduced figure are the most interesting of the group, because they record a currency reform that was designed into the paper years before it became law.