Iran Now Considering Death Penalty for...Currency Speculators

If you saw Glenn Beck's riveting Caliphate special on GBTV on Wednesday, you know that he outlined the punishment for those who dare to live an alternative lifestyle: death. So is it any surprise that news out this morning suggests that Iran is now considering the death penalty for those caught speculating about it's abysmal currency?

From the Washington Post:

Faced with a plummeting currency in the wake of toughened international sanctions, Iran is cracking down on black-market money changers and warning that major speculators could face execution.

The crackdown comes as Iranian authorities are struggling to stabilize the rial, which has nosedived amid announcements of new U.S. and European sanctions against Iran’s central bank and oil exports.

As a warning to speculators, several money changers working on the streets of central Tehran have been arrested by undercover police officers pretending to desperately seek foreign currency.

In addition, the chief of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, threatened Wednesday to seek the death penalty for major speculators. Speaking about the unrest in the foreign-exchange markets, he warned that “depending on the importance of their crimes, some of the economic corrupted can face execution,” the semiofficial Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying in a meeting with judicial officials on the currency crisis.

According to Business Insider, "The current market rate stands at around 18,800 rials per dollar, which compares to the official rate of around 11,500 rials."