Tehran sets up hotline to quell dissent

In a new bid to crank up the pressure on Iran, the Bush administration intends to designate the regime's Revolutionary Guard force as a 'global terrorist organisation' that actively supports militant groups and deadly attacks on American troops in Iraq.

White House watchers see this both as a warning to Iran's firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a fresh attempt to rally the UN Security Council behind tougher economic sanctions against Tehran. It also underlines fears that the US may take unilateral military action unless Iran abandons its nuclear development programme.

Iran's response was defiant, boasting the Revolutionary Guard's missiles "can now reach the breadth and length of the Gulf". Behind the scenes Ahmadinejad is worried by criticism of his handling of Iran's increasingly severe economic

philip jacobson on the Iranian president’s attempt to improve his popularity at home

problems. The violent rioting that erupted in June following the introduction of petrol rationing shook him badly. Earlier this week, in an attempt to re-establish his credentials as a listening politician ahead of elections due next spring, Ahmadinejad authorised the introduction of a hotline to the presidential office.

Ordinary Iranians who dial 111 will be free to grumble to their hearts' content about everything from government policies to Tehran's awesome traffic jams. Whether this will achieve much in restoring the president's standing remains to be seen: his office is currently struggling to cope with some 7m letters that followed his invitation to voters to write to him about their problems.

Unsurprisingly, more than half of these have contained appeals for money, jobs, better housing and improved medical care.