0703 GMT: Economy Watch. Yahya Al-e Eshaq, director of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Industry director, has said, "Prices in the market are not normal... the rising prices and profiteering has angered both the people and the authorities. The government has earmarked $24 billion [reportedly to support imports needed by producers] to correct the price structure."
Economist Mohammad Khosh-Chehreh claims purchasing power has been reduced by 50%.
0655 GMT: Elections Watch. A curious statement from the Nadaie Daroun website on the day before the second round of Parliamentary elections: "Participation in the elections in which the candidates are the most corrupt ones is not a duty."
The Iran watchers at the American Enterprise Institute label Nadaie Daroun as pro-Ahmadinejad.
0650 GMT: Cartoon of the Day. Nikahang Kowsar on censorship and self-censorship:
0510 GMT: Less than two months before the European Union cuts off Iranian oil imports, the Wall Street Journal brings some troubling news from and for Tehran:
Iran's oil output has reached its lowest level in 20 years, independent data showed Wednesday, as the impact of sanctions dramatically deepens.
The output decline underscores how pressure on Iran is increasingly hurting the country's coffers—-with oil and gas normally accounting for more than half of its export revenue.
According to Vienna-based JBC Energy GmbH, Iran's crude output fell to 3.2 million barrels a day in April, down 150,000 barrels a day in two months. That level hadn't been hit since the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war in 1990.
China, Iran's largest customer, has cut purchases by more than half. Japan, another major buyer, has reduced imports by 36%. And even in India, which the Islamic Republic has touted as increasing its shipments, the two largest importers will slash the Iranian supply by at least 15% --- significantly, at the request of the government in Delhi.
Posted via email from lissping
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