Rivals Face Off in One-On-One Debate Ahead of Iran Presidential Runoff
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili faced off in their first one-on-one debate of the Iranian presidential race on Monday night ahead of the runoff election on July 5.
Pezeshkian and Jalili, the two candidates who won the highest number of votes in the nationwide presidential election on June 28, are going to compete in the final round of polls next Friday.
Pezeshkian garnered 42.45% of the ballots, while the runner-up, Jalili, secured 38.61% of the votes.
Last night’s televised debate revolved around political and cultural issues.
The two candidates took turns discussing a topic in response to ten separate questions.
They outlined their plans on a series of economic issues and expressed their views about the reasons for a voter turnout of 40% in the June 28 election, a possible gasoline price rise, plans to allow for the people to hold legal protests, the limits on the virtual space and improving access to the Internet, Iran’s accession to FATF, and the negotiations on the removal of sanctions.
The second debate will be held on Tuesday evening.
The countrywide election is taking place a year ahead of schedule, as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi passed away in May.
A helicopter carrying President Raisi and his entourage crashed in northwestern mountainous forests on May 19, killing the president, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six others.
