Posted on 07/25/2008 4:22:45 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Bitter rifts within Iran's leadership came to the surface on Friday when the authorities banned the evening edition of a newspaper controlled by Tehran's mayor, a leading rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Hamshahri", a daily owned by Tehran's municipality, angered the president by reporting an argument between his ministers and the central bank governor, Tahmasb Mazaheri.
Faced with inflation of about 30 per cent, Mr Mazaheri wants to raise interest rates but "Hamshahri" reports that Mr Ahmadinejad's cabinet allies have opposed this move.
The story struck a nerve because it highlighted the reasons behind the president's acute political vulnerability. One year before he faces re-election, Iran's economy is stagnant, living standards are falling and unemployment remains at crushing levels. This is in spite of the windfall gains brought by record oil prices.
Mr Ahmadinejad is accused of boosting inflation by squandering the oil revenues on prestige projects. He has also purged experienced officials in key ministries, replacing them with his own loyalists.
Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, has emerged as Mr Ahmadinejad's leading opponent and a possible challenger in the next presidential election. "Hamshahri", which Mr Qalibaf indirectly controls, has made a point of reporting Iran's economic woes and linking them to Mr Ahmadinejad.
The president has now retaliated. Of the newspaper's two editions, one has been shut down. "By a decision of the press supervisory board, 'Hamshahri' evening edition has been banned. The reason for banning this publication was the propagation of untruthful news with the aim of creating disruption in the country's economic condition," reported the official news agency, IRNA.
Iran's authorities routinely shut down newspapers for printing critical articles. Yet most of those singled out for this treatment have been privately-owned publications linked to the country's liberal reformers.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
MAYBE THEY WILL IMPLODE WITHOUT ANY INTERVENTION
Prestige Projects?
Was this code for the nuclear projects that Iran has lavished its money on?
Or would linking the economic problems and “prestige projects” (their nuclear ambitions) support the Boltonesque view of international politics (and so is therefore not something a Brit paper would actually do)?
Guess who is going to win?
Maybe Obamamama Messiah Hussein should run for President of Iran.
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