In the second round of presidential debates held this Thursday, candidates for Iran’s presidency discussed their views and policies on a variety of issues.
In the second round of live debates on state television, the six candidates for Iran’s presidency shared their views on several major issues and how to deal most effectively with them.
It was the second of five debates planned in the days before June 28, which is the election day and Iranians are expected to turn out and vote for their favored candidate.
Just like how the first debate started, the second one also began with the candidates speaking of their proposals for Iran’s economy which is having hard days mostly due to Western sanctions.
The candidates also discussed other related issues including inflation, the budget deficit, education, and fuel consumption subsidies.
What was the similar point in the words of all the six candidates was that they all vowed to try their best to get the sanctions lifted and to introduce meaningful reforms to make Iran’s economy experience better days in the near future. However, none of the six candidates actually offered concrete details of how they plan to do what they were promising about.
Who said what in the second round of presidential debates?
Prominent candidate Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, for example, emphasized the destructive effects of the sanctions on Iran’s economy and said that Iranians have a right to a good life, not just an ordinary life.
The 53-year-old candidate Amir Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi said he would continue the path of the late President Ebrahim Raisi and promised to develop the tourism industry to help the economy grow.
The one and only reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, who is backed by pro-reform figures such as former President Mohammad Khatami and former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, shared his views on the economy of Iran and said the economic crisis can be resolved by first “resolving party differences inside the country as well as external factors.”
Speaking of education, which was another area of discussion during Thursday’s debate, all the candidates said they believe the Education Ministry is the most important part of the government because the next generation of the country is raised in this ministry. Qalibaf, for instance, said in this regard that the ministry’s budget must be increased and he will do so if gets elected as president.
The June 28 election comes at a sensitive time for Iran, especially considering the coming presidential in the United States, as well as the Gaza war and the growing tensions between Israel and Lebanon. It is therefore of pivotal importance for many countries across the world who will be the next president of Iran because each one of the six candidates may take Iran to a different path both internationally and domestically.
