Forget Israel, with spiraling inflation and unemployment Iranian President Ahmadinejad may be the one wiped off the map!
Critics say that Ahmadinejad and the central government have been strong on populist slogans but weak on achievement.
An Iranian woman carries her shopping in a supermarket in northern Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007. Prices for vegetables have tripled in the past month, housing prices have doubled since last summer _ and as costs have gone up, so has Iranians’ discontent with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his focus on confrontation with the West. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian inflation holds steady at a miserable 15% according to Iranian central bank but experts say it is much higher.
Reuters reports:
Iran’s inflation rate was 14.7 percent in the year to Nov. 21, down on the 15.1 percent reported for the 12 months to Oct. 22 but still higher than the same period a year before, the central bank reported.
The bank reported an inflation rate of 11.1 percent in the year to Nov. 21, 2005.
Economists say the government’s spending policies, aimed at spreading Iran’s petrodollars more fairly(?), are fuelling inflation — which has been edging higher in recent months.
This is the first time in the Iranian year that began in March, 2006 when the inflation rate over 12 months has dipped from the previous month’s figure.
But the Central Bank of Iran said in its monthly report on its Web site (www.cbi.ir) that the average rise in consumer prices in urban areas still climbed to 11.5 percent in the year to Nov. 21 from 11.2 percent in the 12 months to Oct. 22.
Economists say the general index for 12 months reflects inflation better than the average rate but they say that official figures in general tend to underestimate what the Iranian public has to pay for goods in shops and bazaars.
The government puts unemplyment at 10 per cent but economists say it could be as high as 30 per cent. The government also says inflation is 11 per cent, but experts estimate it at 30 per cent! 
Iranian MP Mohammad Reza Bahonar, seen here in 2004, has charged that the government’s economic policies are causing inflation to spiral out of control, amid mounting concern over rising prices.(AFP/File/Behrouz Mehri)
Impeachment papers may be brought against two of Ahmadinejad’s ministers today:
According to reports published by various news agencies, the bills to impeach Mostafa Pourmohammadi (Minister of the Interior) and Mahmoud Farshidi (Minister of Education) will be introduced in Majlis on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 50 MP’s have signed a petition requiring President Ahmadinejad to appear in the Majlis and provide explanations to his administration’s policies. Ahmadinejad is required to appear in the Majlis if 23 more MP’s sign the petition. The MP’s plan to question the president on issues such as inflation, unfulfilled campaign promises, management style, and failing to respond to Majlis’s concerns.
A group of 150 of Iran’s 290 MPs have signed a letter criticizing Ahmadinejad’s fiscal failures. This is leading to speculation that Ahmadinejad may be impeached.
Jules Crittenden wonders about reaction from the Great Satan.
Robert Mayer has analysis on the situation.
Update: All Things Conservative has the latest developments on Iran’s reaction to growing US pressure.
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