It is recommended for tourists who are going to travel to Iran, to bring US Dollar or alternatively Euros. International credit and debit cards are not available in Iran; since the US trade embargo on the country. Melli Bank of Iran, exchanges foreign currency up to 2000 USD or its equivalent on other major currencies. For each passport holder and each companion of the passport holder up to 2000 Euro for the same purpose per transaction; along with other banks such as, Mellat, Saderat, Sepah, and Tejarat Bank.
One should consider purchasing Iranian’s traveler’s cheques; which are easier to carry and can be exchanged in any bank. Plus, one could use Mah Card, Iranian prepaid debit card designed for tourists. Convert your money to Iranian currency, Rial (IRR), and easily use MahCard everywhere. One also could use money changers, look for “Exchange” or “Currency” signs, it is quicker than using banks and involves less paperwork.
If for any reason you ran out of money in Iran, you will need to seek out a central branch of Melli Bank of Iran with your passport and arrange for a friend back home to make a transfer to that branch of Melli bank, using its Swift code, your full name and passport details.
The currency of Iran is Rial (IRR), but toman (10Rials) is the common unit of money that uses to express amount of money, and price of goods in Iran. Thus, 1000 tomans is 10000 Rials. It means that to pay the price of a thing you buy, you should now that the price in toman is a larger amount than what is written on the label in Rial. It is confusing at first, but it is quickly adaptable.
Another useful method is using check-pul, as traveler’s cheque, but without the name written on it. So, functionally, it is a large denomination bill, which commonly is in 50000 and 100000 Rials. Coins are difficult to find nowadays, because of their lower denominations of Rials, they are literary worthless.
