Iran tries to cover up government rift

Telegraph:

"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.

...

Take note Democrats. If President Bush acted like this guy there would be very few papers in the US. For all you whining about the Bush administration there has been no retaliation against its critics.

BTW, If inflation is at 30 percent and they don't raise the interest rate they are slipping closer to the Zimbabwe abyss. Ahmadinejad's buddy in Venezuela has the same problem. Iran is looking like a pretty feeble country. It looks like Obama is going to lose one of his talking points about Iraq making Iran stronger.