THE TELEGRAPH: Iran's radical president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has eliminated one of his strongest opponents within the state system by sacking the governor of the country's central bank.
The move leaves the Iranian leader free to bolster the populist spending programmes that have been a cornerstone of his appeal but have stoked inflationary pressures in the oil rich nation.
Tahmasb Mazaheri had served as leader of the state bank only since last September. But in that time he had incurred the wrath of the president by publicly warning that government economic plans would lead to hyper-inflation and revealing that he was not allowed to raise interest rates to desireable levels.
Behind closed doors he was believed to have repeatedly clashed with the government over its spending plans.
The central bank's secretary general, Mahmoud Bahmani was appointed acting governor but there are fears an outsider could become the third leader of the institution in the four years since the former paramilitary took power.
A wider assault on professional government institutions has been launched by the Iranian president, a dedicated defender of the religious principles of the Islamic revolution. Last week Tehran announced that it was transferring responsibility for patrolling the Gulf out of the hands of the country's navy. The cleric-controlled Iranian Revolutionary Guard will in future patrol the world's most sensitive waterway.
In advance of next year's presidential elections Mr Ahmadinejad injected enormous amounts of oil money into the economy in an attempt to help Iranians deal with the rising prices of basic goods. Ahmadinejad Sacks Central Bank Governor Who Warned of Inflation >>> By Damien McElroy | September 22, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
