Iran’s currency fell to a new record low on Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for a single US dollar. The slide is a stark reflection of how the war in the Middle East has steadily eroded the Iranian economy since the conflict began in February.

The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on 2 September. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war started, losing around a quarter of its value in the past month alone.

The Iranian economy had been under strain for years from international sanctions. But a US naval blockade on Iranian oil exports and fresh sanctions imposed since the start of the war have sent it into freefall, according to the Associated Press.

There were glimmers of diplomacy. Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, said indirect negotiations with the United States aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz have become “more serious”. He spoke after meeting Pakistani and Qatari mediators in New York.

Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guard’s chief spokesman, General Hossein Mohebbi, called on Americans to take to the streets and protest the conflict.