WASHINGTON -- Sky-high oil prices are keeping Iran's government flush with revenue. But they are also contributing to Iran's soaring inflation, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's worst economic woe. Pain at the pump for consumers of oil-importing countries usually translates into political gain for authoritarian leaders in oil-rich countries who use oil rents to buy political support. As Thomas Friedman famously put it, "the price of oil and the pace of freedom always move in opposite directions." "Iran is no exception," said Farideh Farhi, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. "But high oil prices may not be enough to ensure Ahmadinejad is re-elected" in mid 2009, she added.
Iran’s Inflation Woes Leave Ahmadinejad Vulnerable in 2009 Elections
