Three weeks ago, a hard-line cleric close to Iran''s president gloated publicly that the world financial crisis was God''s punishment on the United States. The laughter, however, was short-lived.
Iran plunged this week into a bitter storm of political recrimination, largely directed at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as officials and ordinary Iranians realized with shock that the Islamic republic faces a severe economic crisis of its own.
The reason: As oil prices plunge because of the global slowdown, Iran is caught in a classic crunch. Ahmadinejad''s government failed to save enough of the billions in oil windfall it earned during the good years to now cushion the bad.
The same crunch afflicts Venezuela and to a lesser extent, Russia, as all three struggle with falling oil prices.
But in Iran, the economic crisis has quickly turned political. Economic woes are the key issue as Ahmadinejad — already deeply unpopular and suffering from exhaustion, he said this week — seeks re-election next summer in a tough vote. And they are shaping up as his weakness.
Critics say he has recklessly squandered Iran''s oil windfall on costly, subsidized imports, from fruit and other goods to the gasoline the country must buy overseas because of a refinery shortage, while failing to take any needed reforms.
Khorog expected to host international investment forum next week
48 Tajik athletes participate in Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkiye
123 people have drowned in Tajikistan since the beginning of the swimming season
Iranian girls rank 2nd best in World Military Championship in Russia
Tajikistan clothing companies enter the Kazakhstan market
China does not rule out using force to reunite with Taiwan
Leader of Uzbek Diaspora in Perm proposes to form battalion for participation in the war with Ukraine
European Union bans Russian coal imports
The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia announces the extradition of 13 Tajiks from Russia
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan sign agreement on training military personnel for Tajik national army
All news
Авторизуйтесь, пожалуйста