ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran’s top supervisory council on Tuesday approved moving forward with a parliamentary bill to remove four zeros from the national currency, coming as the rial continues to fall under renewed international sanctions.

“The Supreme Supervisory Board of the Expediency Discernment Council reviewed the amendment of articles of the bill 'Amending Clause A of Article 58 of the Central Bank Law' and did not consider the removal of four zeros from the national currency to be contrary to general policies,” the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday. 

The body is part of the Expediency Discernment Council, which oversees whether government actions align with broad state policies.

In Iran, a bill passed by parliament must be approved by the president before it can become law, meaning the currency redenomination measure requires presidential endorsement to take effect.

On October 5, the Iranian parliament approved removing four zeros from its national currency, amid a reimposition of international sanctions on Tehran, sending the Iranian rial into a downward spiral.

The meeting was attended by most members of the board, along with representatives from the legislative and judicial branches, the Central Bank governor, and the head of parliament’s Economic Commission, it added.

The currency will retain its nomenclature, according to a report by the country’s Judiciary outlet Mizan earlier this month, with 100 Qirans making up a single rial, the new law however, will see one rial of the new currency be traded as the equivalent 10,000 rials of the old one.

The Central Bank has two years to prepare for the currency change, followed by a three-year transition period when both old and new currencies will circulate, Mizan said.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) in late September voted against a Russian and Chinese request to delay the reimposition of crippling sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, ultimately voting to proceed with the sanctions in a move strongly denounced by Tehran.