Iranian Presidential Candidates Appear in Live Showdown

Known as one of the most-watched programs in the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting history, the debate today revolves around the economic issues.

Allotted equal minutes of speaking time each, the candidates explicated their plans to deal with the country’s major economic problems after taking the office.

There are seven candidates in the race for the highest executive post in Iran. They have been singled out by the Constitutional Council from among more than 590 applicants seeking presidency.

The presidential hopefuls include Saeed Jalili, Mohsen Rezaee, Seyed Ebrahim Raeisi, Alireza Zakani, Seyed Amir Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi, Mohsen Mehralizadeh, and Abdolnasser Hemmati.

During the Saturday debate, the candidates outlined their plans to address the major economic problems.

In remarks on May 27, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei advised the presidential candidates to avoid slandering the other candidates or turning the elections into a war of power.

“You should not look at typical American and European elections because they are notorious due to their insulting behavior. In our own country too, whenever candidates adopted the method to insult, slander and accuse other candidates during televised debates with the goal of frightening the people of other candidates, the country was harmed in one way or another. This has happened in the past. It should not be the case that we frighten the people of another candidate, saying that if he wins, such and such a thing will happen. The arena of elections is a competition for rendering services,” the Leader underlined.

Slated for June 18, the 13th presidential election in Iran will be held simultaneously with council and midterm parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections.

More than 59,310,000 Iranians are eligible to vote this year.