A glance into Sulaimani's foreign exchange markets

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — Sulaimani's Shakawti Mala market is a hub for exchanging Iranian tomans into local currency. 

One of three exchange markets in the city, most of the money exchanged here goes to and from Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Dubai and China. 

It has been the main market for Iranian tomans since 1991. 

Local traders use Iranian counterparts to transfer money from Iran into US dollars. 

No cash is handed over at the market; instead, transactions are built on trust.  

"They [traders in Sulaimani] have accounts in Iran and tell their Iranian counterparts to transfer the tomans to their accounts, and they will transfer dollars,"  says Mohammed Haji Qadir, who has been trading at the market since 1991. 

"It is based on trust...everyone adheres to [the rules], otherwise they'd be kicked out of the market," he added.

Millions of dollars are traded at the markets every day. 

However, due to the instability of the Iranian currency, some traders lose everything. 

Fresh sanctions on Iran also affect the exchange rate, Qadir added. 

Syrian pounds are also exchanged locally, but their value has plummeted after years of civil war. 

The equivalent of $50,000 in Syrian pounds before the civil war is now only worth $1,900. 

 Reporting by Mohammed Shekh Fatih

Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed