The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Tehran

Iran's ex-president Mohammad Khatami has made a rare criticism of successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying inflation was a growing problem which government statistics were attempting to conceal, the press reported on Monday. The reformist Khamati has until now refrained from commenting on Ahmadinejad's policies since he left office in 2005, but his stinging attack comes amid intense manoeuvring ahead of parliamentary elections in March. "Inflation exists in societyt every single person in society says that it exists and ordinary people feel it every time they purchase something," Khatami was quoted as saying by the economic daily Sarmayeh.