Iranian currency gains against gold slumps

The head of the gold and jewel union told the MNA on Sunday that the value of the US dollar had fallen to 17,000 rials, which shows about 8 percent decline compared with the previous day. The rise in value of rial was affected by progress in Iran's nuclear talks with major powers in Istanbul on Saturday. After a year of stalled talks, Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) eventually accepted last month to resume their negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 14 and in case of good progress hold a second round of talks in Iraq's capital city, Baghdad. The two sides attended two meetings at Istanbul's Lutfil Kirdar Hall on Saturday. Ashton led the delegations of the world powers, while the Iranian side was headed by chief negotiator and Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Saeed Jalili. Both sides voiced satisfaction with the results of the talks and are now working on a draft agreement on cooperation before the start of the Baghdad talks.