Iran inflation crisis sparks protests and blame

Today police in Iran fought with money lenders and other protesters in front of the country’s central bank. Inflation in Iran is running at a shocking clip: the Iranian Rial is down 25% against the dollar in just the past week, and there is lots of blame to go around — including some directed at the U.S.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blamed international sanctions for the currency collapse, but others outside of the administration believe the inflation troubles are the result of bad policies and government mismanagement — pointing the blame back at Ahmadinejad.

While Ahmadinejad has encouraged Iranians not too exchange Rials for U.S. or other foreign currencies, many citizens are moving money into things like dollars, gold, even luxury cars.