1.000.000 Rials

Iran's million-rial note came into existence as a direct consequence of decades of post-revolutionary inflation eroding the currency's purchasing power to the point where lower denominations had become operationally useless. By the time this series entered circulation, a million rials was worth roughly US$30 — an unremarkable sum requiring the largest banknote the country had ever produced.

Printed domestically by the Central Bank's own facilities, the note carries only basic security features relative to its face value, a point critics noted at the time of issue. Iran had long maintained in-house printing capacity partly to avoid dependence on Western suppliers subject to sanctions.