Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive Licensed
In this Sept. 19, 2008, file photo, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, and Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, center, who heads Iran's Guardian Council, attend a ceremony in Tehran, Iran. Three weeks ago, hard-line cleric Jannati, who close to Iran's president gloated publicly that the world financial crisis was God's punishment on the United States. The laughter, however, was short-lived. Iran has plunged into a bitter storm of recrimination, largely directed at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as officials and ordinary Iranians realize with shock that the Islamic Republic faces a severe economic crisis of its own.
