A public suicide in Iran spotlights anguish over economy

By NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The son of an Iranian war hero burned himself to death last month outside a building where officials who help relatives of veterans had failed to find him a job. The desperate act by the father of three in southern Iran shocked many and threw a spotlight on rising public fury and frustration over the sinking economy, rising unemployment and soaring food prices. The protest also roiled the Foundation for Martyrs and War-Disabled People, a wealthy and powerful government agency that helps those wounded in Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and subsequent wars. There have been other suicides in recent years that appear to have been driven by Iran’s economic hardships.