The gold price climbed higher today off the back of the Iran conflict, but the bounce could be short-lived if the Iranian government falls given its people’s love for the precious metal.
Meet Samuel – Your Personal Investing Prophet
- Start a conversation with TipRanks’ trusted, data-backed investment intelligence
- Ask Samuel about stocks, your portfolio, or the market and get instant, personalized insights in seconds
Safe Haven
The spot gold price was up 2% in early trading to $5,383 an ounce as investors responded to the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran and its counter-attack hitting American bases in the Gulf over the weekend.
Geopolitical crises like the Middle East, as well as economic jitters over President Trump’s tariff trade policies, have helped gold, and related ETFs like the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) surge over the last few months. It has traditionally been seen as a safe haven for investors during times of trouble.
One of the other big drivers behind the gold price hike has been central banks around the world scooping up gold, again to protect national balance sheets given greater uncertainty.
It is understood that the Iranian government has been a keen purchaser to protect it against the heavy economic sanctions put in place on the country by the U.S. over the last few years.
Iran’s Gold Hunt
The Iranian people have also reportedly turned to gold given the lack of trust in domestic stocks, bonds and banks.
According to figures from the World Gold Council, Iran was the 5th largest gold consumer globally in the first nine months of 2025, trailing only China, India, the US, and Turkey. This is despite being in the lower to middle-tier of global economies on a GDP per capita basis.
Imports of gold also represent aorund 11% of the country’s total imports, with the governnment also reportedly using gold to conduct transactions for items such as drones.
Were the Iranian regime to fall then there may be less appeal for gold with a democratic-sanctions free government in charge. However, history students will likely point to even greater instability and insecurity as a more likely option in Iran following the U.S. attack and its call for regime change.
It is why analysts remain bullish on gold. Michael Brown, strategist at Pepperstone said: “Gold will remain the beneficiary of haven inflows in an increasingly uncertain world, with hefty retail and reserve demand both providing tailwinds too.”
What are the Best Gold ETFs to Buy Now?
We have rounded up the best gold ETFs to buy now using our TipRanks comparison tool. As can be seen below, the GraniteShares Gold Shares ETF (BAR) has the best 12 months return with 81.77%.
