Tehran, Iran – Seven candidates eligible to run in Iran’s elections on June 18 have advanced in a televised debate, as disputes over tolerance of other pregnant women continue.
Saturday’s three-hour event focuses on the economy, which has suffered the most in the last three years under sanctions in the United States and has been characterized by rising prices and high unemployment. Two more talks are scheduled for next Tuesday and Saturday.
The first stage took place without correction. Instead, the state-run TV presenter picked up a few balls from glass jars indicating which question could be chosen randomly for the candidate, who has three minutes to answer.
But much of the discussion has almost gone unnoticed – from tax evasion to budget management to high debtors – as candidates criticize each other and discuss the work they see as necessary to address the economic crisis.
In the second round, each candidate – sitting 6 meters behind the bullets – was given four minutes to defend himself against his teammates. This was followed by participants explaining in detail their financial plans in a four-minute discussion. Their microphones were disconnected a second time later.
Lawmaker Ebrahim Raisi, who appears to be leading the charge in the upcoming elections, appears to be in the forefront.
Former Technocrat officials Abdolnasser Hemmati and vice-president Mohsen Mehralizadeh were the only ones who criticized the careless Presidents.
Four remaining unsuspecting and mature listeners – senior security officer Saeed Jalili; Expediency Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei; and legislators Alireza Zakani and Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi – did not take the case to the President, instead of fighting against their opponents and the current government.
This prompted Hemmati to say that some people wanted to hide from the President, which he vehemently denied.
‘Unstable Places’
Mehralizadeh said he respected the President’s education in seminaries, but said he did not have the resources to run a country of more than 82 million people as he had completed only six studies and had financial leadership.
He also said that the President has “incurable diseases” when he resigned from his job as a judge and became the leader of the powerful Astan Quds Razavi religion in Mashhad, not serving as President in 2017 and then becoming chief justice in 2019.
“What guarantee do you have that you will not leave the presidency to pursue higher office?” Mehralizadeh asked, referring to popular opinion that the President will be the next prime minister after the death of 82-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In response, the President said insulting him would not solve the country’s problems. He also said he had no interest in seeking position and power, adding that he only responded to invitations.
Meanwhile, Hemmati, who said he wanted to represent Iran’s “speechless people” in the election and tried to isolate himself from the economy of outgoing President Hassan Rouhani, has always been criticized by critics who try to portray him as part of the country’s economic crisis.
Taking the money, the four-year-old presidential candidate Rezaei said he knew from decades ago that the global currency could be reduced. He described Rouhani’s management as the worst since 1979, and said that “the evolutionary train has become a motorcycle”.
The former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief, who was criticized by Hemmati for claiming that Iran could earn money by kidnapping American citizens, threatened the former central bank with prosecution and imprisonment for his economic activities. This prompted Hemmati to ask the presiding judge to confirm that he would not go to prison.
Hemmati also lashed out at Rezaei and other activists for setting up bills to complete Iran’s transparent operations with the Financial Action Task Force, and said he was sorry that many Iranians, especially women, did not have a representative among those seeking the presidency.
The senior leader despised the suspension
The dispute between the nominees came a day after Khamenei claimed that the Guardian Council – a six-member board of directors and six other members of the judiciary – had erred in testing the candidates.
Without naming names, the chief executive said most of them were “wrong” and left because of lies and “wanted” to correct them.
Speaking on television on June 4, Prime Minister Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged voters to run for president this month. [KHAMENEI.IR /AFP]
Apparently he was referring to Ali Larijani, a three-time speaker of parliament and his current adviser, who could have been the main rival of the President had he not been suspended.
Sadeq Amoli Larijani, a brother of the candidates and a member of the Guardian Council, said in a statement that he had not found the body “illegal” during his 20 years there, and said law enforcement agencies had helped his brother prevent him from giving false reports.
A few hours after Khamenei’s speech, the commission issued a statement saying it would not change votes – based on a violation of a rule by the prime minister.
Vice-President for President Eshaq Jahangiri and many other reformers and activists were also not qualified by the council, which criticized the hopes of non-extremists being dashed.
The number of voters who are expected to vote is expected to be small even though many people are frustrated by the economic and social crisis.
