Khatami returns to the frey

This week's economist takes a look at Iran.

Much has been written on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution but this article looks at what could be a very interesting Presidential election in the summer

Iran’s president, faces a disgruntled people, an election in June, and now a strong new challenger for his job. This week Muhammad Khatami, a jovial, 65-year-old reformist cleric, who is more softly spoken and gentler-looking than the incumbent, finally decided to throw his turban into the ring.

Khatami was president between 1997 and 2005 and although a reformist was continually blocked by the hard line clerics.

His return to the frey says the paper

raises the hopes of the many Iranians who have chafed under Mr Ahmadinejad’s rule. His spendthrift public-works programmes, fuelled by high oil prices and designed to impress the poor, have instead sparked high inflation that has eroded middle-class purchasing power