THE assassination of a prominent cleric in an oil-rich Iranian province, coinciding with violent protests in Tehran over the rationing of petrol, has plunged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into his biggest crisis since he was elected two years ago.The murder on June 24 of Hesham Saymary in Ahvaz, the centre of Iran's oil-producing province in the south, was a blow to a regime that is already under pressure because of international condemnation of its nuclear program and the prospect of economic meltdown. There have been other assassinations in Iran, notably in the Kurdish area, in the west near the Iraq border, but the Government is far more concerned about Saymary's death because stability in the province is crucial for its oil revenues.
| Saymary may have been targeted because he was a prominent supporter of the regime. |
He may have been targeted because he was a prominent supporter of the regime. Protests that followed shortly afterwards over the rationing of petrol convulsed Iran and its increasingly discontented citizens.
The rationing is particularly damaging to Mr Ahmadinejad because those worst affected are the constituency that elected him, the poor and disenfranchised. During his campaign he adopted the slogan: "Oil money must be seen on the table of the people." He increased Iran's public spending budget, and promised dams, streets, stadiums, schools and hospitals. Few have been built. Faced with UN sanctions and pariah status over its nuclear ambitions, the regime lacks the foreign investment it needs to build more refineries.
On the streets of Tehran last week, housewives who are usually apolitical were throwing his slogans back in his face. "We have some of the biggest oil reserves in the world," said Fatima, 38, a mother of five. "Why do I have to worry if I can pick up my children? The President said he would put the oil money on the tables of the poor. It's all lies."
Mr Ahmadinejad was opposed to the petrol rationing, but was overruled by the Majlis, the Iranian parliament.
| Interesting, if true. |
| Ah. |
| Little noticed in the media, but keenly watched in Tehran, is the Bush administration's donation of $52 million to Iranian opposition groups. |
Others predict Mr Ahmadinejad will stand firm. "They bit the bullet," said an Iranian economist. "These guys have the ability to put people on corners with guns. They're not turning back."