Iran’s stock market came back to life on May 19, 2026. It did so on a very short leash.
The Tehran Stock Exchange resumed trading after an unprecedented 80-day closure, one of the longest wartime trading suspensions in the exchange’s history. But 42 major firms, accounting for roughly 36% of the market, remain suspended. The reopening came with restrictions on large-scale selling and extended trading hours.
What happened and why it matters
The TSE went dark on February 28, 2026, as conflicts between Iran and a US/Israel coalition escalated to a point where regulators decided keeping markets open was more dangerous than closing them. The Securities and Exchange Organization of Iran justified the prolonged shutdown as necessary to protect investors and stabilize the market during a period of extreme uncertainty over potential war-related damages and corporate losses.
Previous closures during earlier tensions in 2025 lasted roughly two weeks. This closure dwarfed those by a factor of nearly six.
