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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502333.html?hpid=topnews
Iran Curtails Freedom In Throwback to 1979
[Washington Post] Robin Wright - Iran is in the midst of a sweeping crackdown that both Iranians and U.S. analysts see as an attempt to steer the oil-rich theocracy back to the rigid strictures of the 1979 revolution. The campaign includes arrests, interrogations, intimidation and harassment of thousands of Iranians as well as purges of academics and new censorship codes for the media. The move has quashed or forced underground many independent civil society groups, silenced protests over issues including women's rights and pay rates, and quelled academic debate. "The current crackdown is a way to instill fear in the population in order to discourage them from future political agitation as the economic situation begins to deteriorate," said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Ahmadinejad's economic policies have backfired, triggering 20% inflation over the past year, increased poverty and a 25% rise in the price of gas last month. More than 50 of the country's leading economists wrote an open letter to Ahmadinejad warning that he is ignoring basic economics and endangering the country's future.