Iran’s currency, rial, sank to near it all-time low on Friday as the government held a highly controversial election expected to garner a low turnout.

The rial sank to a low of 592,000 against the US dollar, which signifies a more than 17-percent drop since early January when tensions rose in the Middle East.

The dollar has doubled against the rial since March 2022, after Iranian hardliners established control over the government and nuclear negotiations with the United States and its European allies failed to make any progress.

The Euro traded at 640,000 and the British pound near 750,000 rials on Tehran’s black market on Friday.

The rial, which has steadily fallen since the 1979 revolution, began a steep dive in 2018 when the United States withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal and imposed oil export as well as banking sanctions on Iran. The currency traded at 70 rials per dollar in 1978.

The significant depreciation of the rial has exacerbated inflationary pressures in the past five years, with millions of people falling below the poverty line. Official government figures indicate more than 40 percent annual inflation, while many in Iran believe the real figure is higher.

The economic crisis has damaged the Islamic government’s legitimacy in the eyes of voters, who are expected to shun the ongoing elections according to observers in Iran and several independent polling groups.