‎‎A 600,000 Rial salary reduction (about 65 US dollars) to finance Ahmadinejad's expensive ‎provincial tours has infuriated the employees at the president's office. ‎

According to a Rooz reporter in Tehran, the salary reduction was authorized by Ali Shoghi, the ‎finance director of Saeedlu, who serves as the president's executive deputy. According to ‎various reports, one worker at the president's office has reacted in a strange manner to protest the ‎salary reduction. He has placed his excrement in a paper bag in front of the office of Ali Shoghi, ‎Saeedlu's finance director. ‎

It appears that the president's security guards have been put in charge of identifying this ‎disgruntled employee. Humorous rumors are flying around that the president will send each ‎employee to a laboratory to test his or her excrement. ‎

Ali Shoghi was among a group of managers that was brought to the president's office by ‎Ahmadinejad. Following Ahmadinejad's election, a large number of employees at the president's ‎office were laid off and replaced by individuals close to Ahmadinejad. Many of the institution's ‎longest-serving employees lost their jobs or are faced with that prospect. The level of discontent ‎among employees at the president's office reached a new level with the recent salary reduction. ‎

Informed officials from the president's office confirmed that, on average, 600,000 thousand rials ‎were cut from each employee's paycheck to cover the cost of Ahmadinejad's expensive ‎provincial tours. ‎