[Weekly Standard] Daniel Doron - Iran's nuclear project can probably be stopped by significantly cutting its oil income. The ayatollahs cannot hope to maintain their hold on power if they cannot feed the tens of millions of destitute citizens now kept afloat with immense welfare outlays. If reduced means compel a choice, the survival instinct will force them to choose rice rather than enriched uranium. The Iranian economy is in shambles. In an effort to please their lower-class supporters in the wake of the revolution, the ayatollahs slapped price controls on agricultural products. Within several years this resulted in the devastation of what was once a prosperous agricultural sector. Millions of farmers left their farms and moved to shanty towns near major urban centers where they were fed by Islamic charities financed by the confiscated assets of the shah. Charity was allocated by family size, which encouraged higher birth rates and caused a population explosion, putting further strain on Iran's welfare system. If not for ever-higher income from oil, Iran's inefficient and corrupt economy would have collapsed long ago. The writer is president of the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress.
2007-02-06 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive