Economic woes dominate Iran's presidential race

Poverty takes the center stage in Iran's presidential campaigning as candidates travel across the country to take their message to the voters ahead of an expected close race on Friday.

According to Press TV, President Hassan Rouhani pledged to eradicate “abject poverty” over the next four years if he is re-elected as he addressed a crowd of thousands at Azadi Stadium Tehran. 

Speaking to the audience, Rouhani called on them "to declare to the world in this election that we are determined to build our future.

The president also defended his performance in the face of scathing criticism, saying his administration had managed to establish “economic stability” in the country. 

Qalibaf: Govt. created class divide

Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, told his female supporters in Tehran that the government was favoring certain people and creating a class divide.

He cited unemployment, inflation, and high prices at the heart of the country’s “economic crisis.”

Separately, Qalibaf said in televised remarks that the management system governing the country was outdated, related to 60 years ago.

Raeisi decries ‘mismanagement’

Another candidate, Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi  likewise said Iran suffered from economic mismanagement, while the country had everything it needed for progress at its disposal.

He was speaking in the city of Urmia in northwestern Iran, where he said his government would instill the culture of "Yes, we can" in the society.

The slogan, he said, would manifest itself in the government resorting to popular resources and “not eyeing foreigners [for assistance].”

No reliance on foreigners

Another candidate Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim, the current member of Iran’s Expediency Council, blamed Rouhani’s government for a "belief that we cannot do anything without foreigners.”

The incumbent government, he said, was not one of “prudence, but one of denial” of the country’s problems, adding people’s troubles were now worse than the 1980s when Iran was fighting a war against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. 

SS