Chickens facing censorship in Iran

Telegraph

Oil revenues, on which the economy heavily depends, have been badly hit as a result.

Rising chicken prices have come to symbolise the privations being endured by ordinary Iranians amid this increasingly grim landscape. In recent weeks, shoppers have had to fork out 70,000 rials (£3.67) for a kilogram of chicken, around three times last year's price.

Farmers and retailers have blamed a shortfall of imported livestock feed – partly caused by sanctions – leading in turn to a drastic rise in the price of domestically-produced feed. Similar increases have been witnessed in the costs of red meat, fruit and vegetables.

With chicken forming a core part of the meat-rich national diet, long-queues have been reported at state food distribution centres, where it has been sold in rationed quantities at lower, government-fixed, prices.

Perhaps with a view to stemming negative reporting, the Caspian Sea province of Gilan even took the novel step of offering discounted chicken to accredited journalists.

Last week, Iran's culture and Islamic guidance minister, Mohammad Hosseini, warned the country's media against reporting the economic impact of sanctions.

"The situation regarding sanctions and other pressures, especially in the economy ... requires more co-operation by the media so the country is not hurt," he said in remarks published on the Iranian government website, dolat.ir.+

That has not stopped caricaturists satirising
+e situation in government-approved media. One widely-distributed cartoon at the weekend showed an airborne chicken with a 100,000 rial note attached to each wing.

Despite censorship efforts, some officials have felt compelled to speak frankly. Last week, Yadollah Javani, the chief adviser to the representative of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the Revolutionary Guards, warned that inflation could rise by 50 to 70 per cent over the next six months. He called on Mr Ahmadinejad to address the situation urgently.