Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

Iran has a money problem. Its money, the rial, is losing value.

The United States blocks Iran's ships and puts limits on its trade. Many things in Iran now cost more.

Iran's central bank says it will put up to 2 billion dollars into the market. It wants to help the rial. Iran's president also says talks with the United States have no meaning.

money

Coins and notes that we use to buy things.

rial

The money of Iran.

bank

A place that keeps and moves money.

blocks

Stops something from going through.

limit

A rule that says you cannot go past a point.

trade

Buying and selling between places.

cost

The price of something.

talks

Meetings to find a deal.

Level 2 — Elementary

Iran's currency, the rial, kept falling this weekend. The country is under American sanctions and a naval blockade, which have cut its oil sales.

The central bank said it is ready to put up to 2 billion dollars into the foreign exchange market. Its goal is to calm the sudden ups and downs of the rial.

On Sunday, the speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz will not stop until seven Iranian conditions are met.

On Monday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said talks with an enemy that sanctions and threatens his country every day have no meaning. President Trump answered that gasoline prices are rising because of refinery problems, not Hormuz.

currency

The type of money used in a country.

sanctions

Penalties that limit trade with a country.

blockade

Using ships to stop other ships from entering or leaving.

foreign exchange

The market where one money is traded for another.

calm

To make something less shaky.

speaker

The person who leads a parliament.

condition

Something that must happen first.

refinery

A factory that turns oil into fuel.

Level 3 — Intermediate

Iran's currency slid further over the weekend, deepening a financial squeeze that has built since Washington imposed a naval blockade and tightened sanctions on the country's oil exports. In response, the central bank said it is prepared to inject up to 2 billion dollars into the foreign exchange market to curb what it called sharp swings in the rial.

Currency support of that kind buys time rather than solving the underlying problem. With oil revenue throttled and imports growing more expensive, households face rising prices, and the government must decide how long it can sell scarce dollar reserves to defend the exchange rate.

The diplomatic backdrop is no calmer. Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday that attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz will continue until Iran's seven conditions are met, while on Monday President Masoud Pezeshkian said negotiations are meaningless with an adversary that sanctions and threatens Iran daily.

President Donald Trump has argued that American gasoline prices reflect refinery trouble rather than the Hormuz disruption, insisting that record volumes of crude are leaving the region. Energy traders, however, continue to price in the risk that the standoff could tighten supply again.

squeeze

A situation in which money or resources become very limited.

inject

To add money into a system.

curb

To limit or reduce.

throttled

Strongly restricted.

reserves

Money or goods that are saved for future use.

backdrop

The general situation surrounding an event.

adversary

An opponent or enemy.

standoff

A tense situation in which neither side will give way.

Level 4 — Advanced

Iran's rial extended its slide over the weekend, and the central bank responded by signalling it would deploy as much as 2 billion dollars of foreign currency to dampen what officials described as disorderly swings. The intervention underscores the strain on an economy squeezed between American sanctions and a naval blockade that has choked its seaborne oil exports.

Such operations are a blunt instrument. They can arrest a panic, but they draw down finite reserves, and the credibility of any defended exchange rate depends on whether traders believe the money will last. With import costs climbing and household purchasing power eroding, the policy risks buying weeks rather than months.

Politically, the posture in Tehran has hardened rather than softened. Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf declared on Sunday that attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz will not cease until seven stated conditions are satisfied, and President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that negotiating with a country that sanctions and threatens Iran daily is devoid of meaning.

Washington, for its part, has played down the oil-market implications. President Donald Trump contended that American pump prices are being driven by refinery bottlenecks rather than the Hormuz disruption and asserted that record quantities of barrels are leaving the region. Energy markets, wary of a relapse in the standoff, have been slower to share that equanimity.

dampen

To reduce the strength or intensity of something.

disorderly

Lacking control or an orderly pattern.

blunt instrument

A crude tool that lacks precision.

arrest

To stop a process.

erode

To wear away gradually.

posture

A stance or attitude taken on an issue.

bottleneck

A point of congestion that slows a process.

equanimity

Calmness in difficult situations.