Iran presidential candidates hold second live face-off

The six candidates contesting the 12th Iranian presidential election faced off in the second live televised debate today on Friday, May 5 at the headquarters of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

During the debate on Friday, the candidates elaborated on their plans and agendas as they campaign for the May 19 nationwide vote.

On arrival at IRIB, the incumbent, President, Hassan Rouhani, who is running for a second term, said debates in principle aim to acquaint the nation with the thoughts and agendas of the candidates.

The previous debate, which took place last week, revolved around social issues.

The debate gathered Rouhani, First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, member of Iran’s Expediency Council Seyyed Mostafa Aqa-Mir-Salim, Seyyed Ebrahim Raeesi, the custodian of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (AS) and former vice president Mostafa Hashemi-Taba.

Lots were drawn to determine the seating arrangement of the hopefuls.

Morteza Heidari, as in the first round, was the moderator today. Heidari laid out the format of the debate and read out a statement by the election monitoring committee, asking the candidates to observe the rules and regulations of the debate.

Scientific progress

Qalibaf was drawn first to answer a question about scientific progress in the country and his plans to boost it. He said cultural issues are the root of economic issues in the country, suggesting the current officials in the education ministry haven’t satisfactorily fulfilled their responsibilities.

The candidates took turns to express their views on Qalibaf’s remarks with Rouhani saying that it is necessary to build cultural infrastructure for promoting the cultural status of the country.

Hashemi-Taba said faculty members of universities must only focus on educating students.

Jahangiri also said serious measures must be taken to improve teachers’ livelihood. Raeesi criticized the fall in the pace of Iran’s scientific progress in the recent years. Qalibaf retook the podium to answer the candidates’ questions and said smuggling has caused the most major problems for the economy.

Interaction with critics

Mir-Salim, the second hopeful taking to the podium, was asked to outline his approaches for interacting with other political parties. He said embracing criticism is the only way for any administration’s success. He criticized the 11th administration for failing to embrace criticism and insulting critics. He said lack of criticism means that the people are not willing to play a role in the country’s progress.

Hashemi-Taba said some media outlets have targeted the 11th administration with the harshest of attacks.

Jahangiri also said everybody must welcome constructive criticism and added that the current administration was successful in handling critics and promoting social liberties.

Raeesi said the administration of Rouhani has attacked its critics and at times used insulting expressions.

Mir-Salim once again took to the podium to answer the candidates’ questions and said the current administration has not been successful in helping the realization of citizenship rights.

Nuclear rights

Raeesi, the third candidate at the podium, used his four-minute time to express his plans to prevent any violation of Iran’s peaceful nuclear rights. He said the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), must be respected by all involved parties. He added that negative signals were sent to the opposite side during the nuclear negotiations. Raeesi said President Rouhani had promised that all sanctions would be removed after the JCPOA conclusion but this has not happened.

Qalibaf said the JCPOA has failed either to solve Iran’s economic problems or improve people’s livelihood.

Mir-Salim said the nuclear agreement proved to the world that Iran does not seek to develop nuclear weapons.

Rouhani said the presidential candidates must clearly inform the Iranian people of their plans concerning the JCPOA and interact with the world. He added that the JCPOA has led to the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions.

Jahangiri said the nuclear agreement was one of the greatest achievements in Iran’s history.

Raeesi said the JCPOA has failed to end Iran’s economic recession and remove all banking sanctions but added that all Iranian administrations must be committed to the nuclear agreement.

Foreign policy

Hashemi-Taba, the next candidate taking to the podium, answered a debate question about his most important priorities of the foreign policy. He said different governments must be dealt with in different ways and added that the country must appear strong in the face of elements that take orders from the Israeli regime and arrogant powers. He said Iran must take every step to strengthen the country's defense sector.

Jahangiri said the country must make the most of public diplomacy at the international level. He added that tourism, arts and sports are major fields for interaction with other nations. He emphasized that Iran’s soft power must increase in parallel with its hard power.

Raeesi said Iran must pursue a strong economic diplomacy in its relations with other countries. He stressed the importance of protecting the rights of the Iranian citizens in all countries.

Qalibaf said the country must use all forms of diplomacy in its interactions with others and added that the 11th administration lacks coherence with regard to international trade.

Rouhani said his administration brought about the realization of the country’s rights in the nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 group of countries through a powerful diplomacy.

Hashemi-Taba said Iran can use its energy exports to cement relations with other countries and added that exports are a major factor in implementing Resistance Economy. He emphasized that necessary guarantees must be given to investors to attract investment.

Defense and national security

Jahangiri took the podium, as the fifth candidate, to explain his plans to boost Iran’s defense power and national security. He said a president needs to have experience in dealing with domestic and international issues and expressed disapproval of the fact that Iran’s cultural power has not taken advantage of properly.

The presidential candidates took turns to express their views on Jahangiri’s remarks with Raeesi saying that the Iranian people’s presence was the most important component of national might.

Mir-Salim said the 11th administration reduced the research budget to below 0.5 percent.

Rouhani said Iran is currently considered a major power in the region and the world, adding that the Islamic Republic’s international standing has been greatly improved in comparison with the past.

Jahangiri used his five-minute time to answer the questions raised by other candidates and said Iran’s culture was the most important source of the country's power.

Iran’s Islamic lifestyle

Last Rouhani took to the podium to answer a question about promoting the Islamic lifestyle of Iranian Muslims. He said the Iranian people must choose between a rigid administration and an administration promoting freedoms. He added that Iran’s president belongs to all people.

The presidential candidates took turns to express their views on Rouhani’s remarks with Jahangiri saying that the improving of lifestyles would reduce excessive use of the country’s resources.

Raeesi said the optimal use of resources and the promotion of national unity are the major components of the Iranian people’s Islamic lifestyle.

Qalibaf said cultural affairs must be managed by cultural figures. The mayor of Tehran added that cultural activities have greatly advanced in the capital in recent years.

Mir-Salim, meanwhile, criticized the 11th administration for failing to promote an Iranian-Islamic lifestyle.

In response to the allegations against his administration, the incumbent president said some candidates are giving empty promises on economic growth to the Iranians.

With all the six candidates having taken to the podium, the moderator announced the end of the first section of the debate and called a break before the beginning of the second round.

Round II

In the second section, each candidate was given two minutes to answer a question raised by the moderator. Draws determined the candidate and the question posed to him.

Jahangiri, going first, explained his plans to use arts to boost cultural potentialities and said no unlawful limitation must be imposed on artistic activities.

As per the draw, Qalibaf next responded to a question about his plans to boost the training aspect of the education system in the country and said some officials are willing to use foreign investment more than domestic potentialities.

Mir-Salim was asked about his plans to boost cooperation among the three branches of the government. He said all branches of the government must cooperate to solve the country’s problems. He added that close cooperation is needed between the executive and legislative branches.

Hashemi-Taba, for his part, responded to a question about his plans to manage cyberspace. He said problematic cyberspace content must be controlled.

Rouhani answered a question about his plans to promote non-extravagant lifestyles and said the previous administration wasted billions of people’s assets due to its carelessness. He added that his administration seeks to implement the transparency law.

Raeesi, the last candidate speaking in this part, explained his plans about the ways to improve teachers’ living standards and said the necessary facilities must be provided to elevate the scientific level of teachers. He added that due attention must be paid to improving the livelihood of teachers.

Concluding remarks

The final segment of the debate concerned the candidates' concluding remarks in which they offered a recap of their points, plans, agendas as well as their final statements in the time allotted to them so that all of the hopefuls would have had equal speaking time.

SS/AS