‘Iran takes no joy in West’s hardships’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed dismay over financial pressures exerted on the American and European people.

“We are saddened by the fact that a group of Americans and Europeans are in hardship because of the current crisis,” Ahmadinejad said, Sunday.

“People are not responsible for the crisis. Their rulers are the ones who have mounted financial pressure on their nations,” he added.

Ahmadinejad’s comments came as business activity slowed down in the US Midwest, with unemployment rates reaching 6.3 percent.

US Commerce Department data revealed that consumer spending dropped by 0.3 percent in September, showing the biggest slide in four years and foreshadowing a deepening economic downturn.

Analysts believe increases in food and fuel costs, job losses and falling property values have forced consumers to cut back their expenditure thereby ending the longest period of spending growth in US history.

The slowdown, which was triggered by the failure of mortgage lenders, investment companies and government-sponsored enterprises in the US financial system, has since spiraled through world economy.

Many believe that responsibility for the crisis lies in deregulation policies followed by the US government over the past two decades, which allowed financial institutions to take unprecedented risks with the savings of ordinary Americans.

MJ/CW/DT