Inflation Up In Iran

Iran's Central Bank has announced that the country's annual inflation rate has reached 19.5% – the highest in recent years.

The CB added that last month's goods price index was 3.1% higher than the previous month's, and 24.2% higher than the same period last year.

The online reformist daily Rooz said that the increase in inflation comes despite record oil income revenues of $220 billion in the past three years.

The daily also said that during Friday worship in Qom, senior clerics Ayatollah Ibrahim Emini and Ayatollah Javad Amali criticized the economic policy of the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Also, the opposition paper Etemad-e Mali, which is headed by Mehdi Karroubi, stated in an editorial that the Ahmadinejad government "is toppling society, which is bowed under poverty, inflation, and high cost of living."

Source: Rooz, Iran, May 4, 2008

Iranian Regime Instructs  Press on How to Report on Nuclear Issue and Iraq , Special Dispatch Series - No. 1899, April 16, 2008

Power Struggle in Iran – Part IV: Staged Majlis Elections, Elimination of Reformist Political Representation, Abolition of 'Rule of the Jurisprudent' , Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 430, April 2, 2008

The Child and the Invader - An Iranian Cartoon Series, Special Dispatch Series - No. 1873, March 17, 2008

Iran's Attempts to Renew Relations with Egypt,
 Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 426, March 12, 2008

Iranian TV Series: "40 Soldiers", Depicts Mythological Persian Heroes Vanquishing U.S. , Special Dispatch Series - No. 1857,February 29, 2008

If you would like to donate by mail, please send check or money order to:
	MEMRI P.O. Box 27837 Washington DC 20038
Telephone: 202.955.9070 Email: donate@memri.org

As a reader of MEMRI, you are familiar with our continuing efforts to expand our work to monitor more media outlets in more countries, research more subjects, and translate into more languages.

At this crucial time, as the war on terror continues, with the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, and with reformists in the region needing help to make their voices heard, we are introducing The MEMRI Blog.

The MEMRI Blog is a new service, provided by The Middle East Media Research Institute, which will operate in conjunction with MEMRI.org, MEMRITV.org, and MEMRIFilms.org.

While MEMRI regularly provides translations from editorials and sermons, as well as expert analysis, The MEMRI Blog will specifically highlight brief NEWS ITEMS from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish language media sources.