Iran's president wins only accolades in home town

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent

ARADAN, Iran (Reuters) - Don't come to the sleepy market town where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born and expect to hear him criticized for his handling of the nuclear issue, the economy, or anything else really.

Just ahead of Friday's parliamentary election, voters in Aradan admit they are troubled by inflation, rising housing costs and unemployment, but few blame the president.

"We are very happy with the government, especially Ahmadinejad," said greengrocer Ali Kashani, as he waited for customers in an almost deserted street. "He has done great things for us, like standing up to America, standing against our enemies so that no foreigners interfere with Iran.

"We have no problems, and if we do, they are not created by the government," said the 38-year-old father of two.

Son of a blacksmith, Ahmadinejad, 51, has few strong roots left in Aradan, a modest town of about 5,000 people that serves farmers who grow grain, cotton, grapes, olives and pomegranates.

Ahmadinejad's family moved to Tehran, 110 km (70 miles) to the west, when he was a boy. He studied civil engineering in the capital. After joining the Revolutionary Guards in the 1980-88 war with Iraq, he lectured at a university and served as a provincial governor before becoming mayor of Tehran in 2003.

In Aradan, Ahmadinejad is viewed as a local hero who is keeping his 2005 election promise to put Iran's oil wealth on the tables of the people. They like his piety and his personal style of touring the provinces, handing out cash or loans.

"Here, and everywhere he has been, Ahmadinejad has allocated a budget. Then he comes back to check if it has been spent properly," said Haj Jalil Mirzai, behind the counter of his plastic flower shop in Aradan's tiny covered bazaar.

"It's a very good government. They work for the people and take care of the needy," the white-haired 77-year-old added.

Ahmadinejad's critics, who include fellow conservatives as well as reformists, say his policies have fuelled inflation, now running at 19 percent according to government figures.

People in Aradan will have none of it.

"Sure, inflation has gone up, but it's a global problem," said Ali Reza Cheloyan, who farms wheat and cotton with the help of myriad state subsidies. "We support the government."

JOB HUNT

In Aradan's main street, people can sit on painted benches beneath pine trees on a grassy dividing strip and watch workers put up a monument -- a globe supported on curved white pillars.

Iran, somewhat isolated from the global economy, has to generate its own jobs, but accountancy student Jaafar Kazemi, 21, spoke gloomily of his employment chances when he graduates.