New York (CNN) -- Within hours of speaking with the BBC and Voice of America, both in Persian, Fariborz Raisdana, a leading Iranian economist, was arrested by the security forces of the Islamic Republic.
On both these occasions, Raisdana was severely critical of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's program of substantially cutting governmental subsidies, in what amounts to "the biggest surgery" to the Iranian economy in 50 years.
Initiated on Sunday, the government's actions introduced a four-fold rise in the price of gasoline and seriously cut government food subsidies, including, literally, people's daily bread.
The current 20% inflation rate, some economies believe, will in fact increase after these new "austerity measures." Even economists sympathetic to Ahmadinejad's policies warn of higher inflation and characterize his claim of "zero inflation" as disingenuous.
A much milder version of a hike in the gasoline price resulted in widespread riots and the burning down of gas stations by protesters back in 2007, only two years into Ahmadinejad's presidency. This time around Ahmadinejad anticipated possible protests by "flooding Iran's capital" with the militarized security forces, in a move similar to the government's response to the opposition Green Movement.
The U.S.-led and U.N.-imposed sanctions against Iran, aimed at stopping its nuclear program and supported by those wishing for "regime change," obviously played a major role in increasing the pressure for cutting government spending. CNN
