Austin Escorts: Interesting Times in Tehran
They have remained there ever since, despite mounting pressure from the Iranian government. Over the past three days, the Iranian regime has authorized a massive mobilization of security forces. It has also instituted a virtual electronic embargo, revoking the work permits of foreign journalists, blocking broadcasts by the BBC’s popular Persian service, limiting Internet access and stopping SMS text messaging. There are even reports that it has enlisted foreigners to help control restive crowds in a sure sign that Iran’s ayatollahs are nervous about the mounting social discontent on the Iranian “street.”
They should be. By any yardstick, Iran is a country in the grip of massive socio-economic malaise. Inflation now stands at nearly 30 percent. Unemployment is rampant, officially pegged at over 10 percent but unofficially estimated to be as much as two-and-a-half times that figure. Nearly a quarter of the Iranian population now lives under the poverty line, and both prostitution and drug addiction are rampant. Add to these Ahmadinejad’s gross mismanagement of the national economy over the past four years, and it is easy to see why Iran’s leaders fear that outrage over a stolen election could spiral into something more.