A 'real' (as in 'royal') currency has existed both in Spain and in Portugal. Many countries in the Arabian peninsula also have their currency named 'rial', in addition to Iran. Different 'rial' currencies were used in the Swahili world (from the horn of Africa all the way to Durban, RSA) for centuries; even nowadays, it's not uncommon to refer to a price as "riali koumi" (literally "ten rials").

BTW, I suppose you refer to the strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian situation described looks like a gold-bug wet dream, with hyperinflation looming to boot. It seems like this is triggered by an extreme external account imbalance in a country that is vastly dependent on imports...