Iran hails world financial crisis as 'end of capitalism'

Iranian leaders say the world financial crisis indicates the end of capitalism, the failure of liberal democracy and divine punishment -- marking the superiority of the Islamic republic's political model.

"The school of Marxism has collapsed and the sound of the West's cracking liberal democracy is now being heard," supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday, recalling the fate of the Soviet Union.

Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is backed by Khamenei, said on Tuesday that "it is the end of capitalism."

Such convictions can be traced back to the ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution, which Ahmadinejad has sought to revive since he rose to power in 2005.

The firebrand president, who has not missed a chance to denounce Western "decadence" since his election, has exploited the scale of the global crisis to play up his argument.

He benefits from the luxury that the Tehran stock market has been unaffected by the losses that bourses in neighbouring Gulf states have suffered. That stability is attributable to the absence of foreign investors and to the government's firm grip on economic activity.

Several Iranian newspapers, regardless of their reformist or conservative leanings, have also blamed the global economic crisis on excessive liberalism.

And some officials, such as the head of Iran's electoral watchdog body, have come up with less conventional theories and branded the turmoil as "divine punishment."

"These people see the outcome of their bad deeds. This problem has spread to Europe now which makes us happy. The unhappier they are the happier we become," Ayatollah Ali Janati, who heads the Guardians Council, said in last Friday's prayer sermon.

Ahmadinejad has recently echoed that, saying "the reason of their defeat is that they have forgotten God and piety." ...

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Perhaps just a little premature folks, just a little premature. Let's see now, the list of America's dooms-day prophets continues to grow...Falwell, P Robertson, Jeremiah Wright, now Iran's leadership...and Iran with 30% interest swallowing her economy up as I write...perhaps just a little premature to count capitalism out just yet...

Hey, by the way Iran...with all that "interest free" money to loan...how about sending some of it this way?

God Bless...seriously...God Bless your people.

chuck