"Mr. Ahmadinejad's speech in Qom was but [part of] an election campaign, and the president is adopting the same style he has implemented in the past: the policy of 'escaping ahead' and utilizing equivocal matters such as mafia and economic corruption so that he can evade direct response to questions," Tehran journalist and columnist Isa Saharkhiz told Radio Farda.

Iran's economy is going through one of its worst stretches in recent memory. The price of food and commodities is increasing daily. Foreign trade has nearly ground to a halt, and under the terms of United Nations sanctions, almost no credible international financial institution will give loans or credit to Iranian banks or merchants.