Tehran- Iran will distribute from mid-March a new banknote carrying a portrait of the leader of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as the nuclear energy emblem, the Tehran press reported Sunday. The new 50,000 rial note - approximately 5.5 dollars - shows on reverse Iran's map with the standard nuclear energy emblem and a saying by the Prophet Mohammed that "Persians would acquire any knowledge even if it is in the sky (seemingly unachievable)."
Since the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August 2005, Tehran has pushed efforts to achieve nuclear technology, insisting it is the "nation's irrevocable will" despite opposition by the international community and probable UN sanctions.
The new banknote follows the 20,000 rial bill issued three years ago. Previous bills - 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 rials - have in the meantime lost their value due to increasing inflation in the Islamic state.
Central Bank officials however categorically deny economic experts' view that the new bill would pose a de facto depreciation of the rial.
Economic reforms by Ahmadinejad and his pre-election promises of drastically decreasing gap between rich and poor have so far failed and inflation is believed to be higher than the officially-given 13 per cent.
