Iran’s currency crisis and triple-digit inflation were caused by flawed exchange-rate policies and a lack of fiscal discipline rather than the war, the hardline Kayhan newspaper argued on Tuesday. “The claim that the war caused triple-digit inflation is a big lie and an attempt to evade responsibility,” wrote Kayhan, which is published under the supervision of Iran’s supreme leader’s representative. The newspaper said the currency market was driven more by government policy than by fears of war. It accused what it called the “pro-surrender faction” of trying to link the dollar’s rise beyond 2 million rials to the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It also accused the government of using the war and the strait to conceal serious policy failures. Kayhan defended closing Hormuz as the best strategy for squeezing a key global energy chokepoint and imposing costs on the United States and its regional allies.