International gold headed for a third weekly decline on Friday, spot bullion touching $4,170 an ounce, as the dollar index climbed to a one‑year high and Federal Reserve policymakers signalled that interest rates could rise again this year. The Fed’s updated dot‑plot showed nine of 19 officials see at least one more increase before December, lifting real yields and eroding the appeal of non‑yielding assets. The development weighed on precious metals across the board; silver, platinum and palladium all fell more than 1 per cent in a single session.

In Iran, the political backdrop overwhelmed Fed dynamics. Tehran dispatched a delegation to Switzerland for direct talks with American officials, raising expectations of a sanctions‑relief framework. Traders in the free market drove the US dollar down from 161,000 to as low as 157,000 rials intraday before it settled near 158,200. The riyal’s strengthening cascaded into bullion: gram‑denominated 18‑carat gold broke below the symbolically important 16‑million‑toman threshold, touching 15.83 million tomans at one point, even as the global ounce price held steady around $4,155. Bahar‑e Azadi gold coins likewise shed value, with the new‑design coin dropping to 162.5 million tomans.

Viewed from Cairo, the easing of regional tension produced a parallel effect. Egypt’s most‑traded 21‑carat gram dipped below 6,000 Egyptian pounds for the first time since the Iran‑crisis flare‑up, aided by a return of foreign portfolio flows into local debt. Bankers noted that the dollar had retreated to below 50 pounds, from peaks near 54, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and the prospect of a US‑Iran accord drained the geopolitical risk premium.

Analysts in London cautioned that the bullish dollar catalyst—the Fed’s hawkishness—remains in play. Next week’s US personal‑consumption expenditure index, durable‑goods orders and final GDP readings will either cement or soften expectations of further tightening. In Tehran, traders are watching for a formal readout from Geneva; the rial’s recent gains hang on the perception that the two sides can agree on a verifiable enforcement mechanism for any deal.