On the 28th (local time), a man is seen buying gold coins with rial banknotes in Tehran, the capital of Iran. [Yonhap News]

Iran's rial exchange rate is hitting new highs day after day amid the chaos caused by protests against economic hardship and the authorities' violent crackdown.

According to AP on the 28th (local time), the exchange rate against the dollar surpassed 1.6 million rials for the first time ever in the local foreign exchange market on this day.

This is just one day after it first exceeded 1.5 million rials the previous day.

Exactly one month ago, on the 28th of last month, when Tehran merchants began protesting in the streets against the plummeting currency value and high prices, the exchange rate was around 1.42 million rials to the dollar.

Although the protests themselves have subsided days after the Iranian authorities imposed a nationwide internet and communication blackout on the 8th and launched a harsh crackdown, resulting in at least thousands of deaths.

However, this incident has heightened tensions to a breaking point, with U.S. President Donald Trump hinting at possible intervention and the U.S. Navy's Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, previously deployed in the South China Sea, being redeployed to the Middle East, causing the rial's exchange rate to fluctuate even more.

Yesterday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued an emergency decree to all provincial governments to prepare for potential attacks from 'enemy nations' the United States and Israel, and to ensure the supply of essential goods and the preservation of government functions.