A GROUP of 60 Iranian economists have condemned the economic policies of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and contradicted recent boasts by Tehran leaders that the Islamic republic has been successfully weathering the global economic crisis.
The economists' 30-page letter, quoted by several newspapers, state-run television and published on the website of the independent Labour News Agency on Sunday, said Iran had entered dire economic straits and must drastically change course. It said Mr Ahmadinejad's "tension-creating" foreign policy had "scared off foreign investment and inflicted heavy damage" on the economy.
"Meager economic growth, widespread jobless rate, chronic and double-digit inflation, crisis in capital markets, government's expansionary budget, disturbed interaction with the world, inequity and poverty have combined with the global economic downturn to leave undeniably big impacts on exports and imports," the letter said.
Mr Ahmadinejad immediately blasted back, arguing at a seminar on Sunday that Iran had been "least affected by this international financial crisis" and urging economists to design "an independent economic system and model based on justice", according to a report by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Iran is locked in a dispute with the West over its drive toward mastering sensitive nuclear technology. Tehran has already incurred three rounds of international economic sanctions for refusing to halt the enrichment of uranium ore.
Iran's conservatives have dismissed the restrictions on trade as ineffective. But the letter said sanctions had cost Iran billions of dollars by forcing it to turn to middlemen for imports and exports.
The letter suggests growing discontent with Mr Ahmadinejad and his clique within elite political circles in the months leading up to June 2009 presidential elections.
The harsh assessment flies in the face of bragging about Iran's economy by religious leaders who have described the West's economic downturn as God's revenge.
But the letter says Iran's oil-dependent economy is also hurting and would be further damaged if the price of oil continues to fall.
Government expenditure has ballooned since Mr Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 and initiated a series of populist economic policies to curry favour with conservative voters. "The question is to know how the government will finance its traditionally oil-dependent budget," said the letter, which included prominent former officials as signatories.
Instead of looking rationally at Iran's economic problems, the letter added, the government had based its view of domestic and international affairs on "extremist idealism". - ( LA Times-Washington Postservice)