His incredible on-the-ball World Cup predictions made Paul the octopus a soccer sensation.

Thanks to the celebrated oracle, those who backed Spain to win were squids in.

But psychic Paul has left others feeling as sick as a parrot - especially Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Now the excitable president, whose country failed to qualify for the tournament and is ranked 60th in the world by FIFA, has cried foul. Ahmadinejad has condemned Paul as a symbol of decadence, decay and all that is wrong with society in the West.


During a speech in Tehran at the weekend, the Iranian leader red carded the multi-armed footie forecaster for spreading "western propaganda and superstition". Referring to Paul, he said: "Those who believe in this type of thing cannot be the leaders of the global nations that aspire, like Iran, to human perfection, basing themselves in the love of all sacred values."

Paul, who has legged it back to his tank in Oberhausen since correctly predicting all seven of Germany's World Cup results - as well as Holland's defeat in the final by Spain - was unavailable for comment.

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Iran, currently ranked 60th by FIFA, failed to make it to South Africa after a controversial 0-0 draw between Saudi Arabia and North Korea.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated a new policy on Tuesday to encourage population growth, dismissing Iran's decades of internationally-acclaimed family planning as ungodly and a Western import.

The new government initiative will pay families for every new child and deposit money into the newborn's bank account until they reach 18, effectively rolling back years of efforts to boost the economy by reducing the country's once runaway population growth.

"Those who raise idea of family planning, they are thinking in the realm of the secular world," Ahmadinejad said during the inauguration ceremony.

The plan is part of Ahmadinejad's stated commitment to further increase Iran's population, which is already estimated at 75 million. He has previously said the country could support up to 150 million.

The program would be especially attractive to the lower income segments of the population formed the backbone of Ahmadinejad's support in the 2005 and 2009 elections.

Throughout his tenure, the president has promoted populist policies in Iran, where 10 million people are estimated to live under the poverty line.

It is unclear, however, where the funds would come from as the government is already having trouble paying for basic infrastructure projects.

Starting in the early 1970s, Iran waged a successful family planning campaign across the country, including banners in public health care centers reading "two children are enough."

It was reversed after the 1979 Islamic revolution only to be brought back 10 years later when the population ballooned and the economy faltered.

Throughout the 1990s, Iran reduced population growth by encouraging men and women to use free or inexpensive contraceptives, as well as vasectomies. The government brought down the country's population growth rate from its 1986 height of 3.9 percent to just 1.6 percent in 2006.

Ahmadinejad caused public outcry, however, when shortly after he was elected in 2005 he said two children per family were not enough and urged Iranians to have more.

Under the new plan each child born in the current Iranian year, which began March 21, will receive a deposit of $950 in a government bank account. They will then continue to receive another $95 every year until they reach 18. Parents will also be expected to pay matching funds into the accounts.

Under the initiative's rules children can withdraw the money at the age of 20 and use it for education, marriage, health and housing.

Iran's official unemployment rate is about 10 percent, but estimates say there are 3 million unemployed people of working age in the country.

Following the 1980s baby boom, some 26 million Iranians are between the ages of 15 and 30.