TEHRAN, Iran: Iranian presidential candidates on Tuesday discussed the impact of economic sanctions imposed on their country by the United States and other Western nations and presented their proposals for reviving a nuclear deal with world powers.
It was the second 鈥� and last 鈥� live debate on state television pitting little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator, ahead of Friday鈥檚 runoff election in which voters will choose a successor for the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died last month in a helicopter crash.
Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, said that sanctions imposed by the West have badly hurt Iran鈥檚 economy. He cited a 40 percent inflation over the past four years and the increasing poverty rates. 鈥淲e live in a society in which many are begging on the streets,鈥� he said, adding that his administration would 鈥渋mmediately鈥� work to try to get sanctions lifted and vowed to 鈥渞epair鈥� the economy.
As he did the day before, Pezeshkian said he would find a solution to revive a nuclear deal with world powers by discussing the plan with the country鈥檚 parliament and finding possible alternatives. 鈥淣o government in history has been able to flourish inside a cage,鈥� he said, referring to the impact of sanctions on Iran鈥檚 spiraling economy.
Former President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, in 2015 struck a nuclear deal with world powers that capped Iran鈥檚 uranium enrichment in return to lifting sanctions but later, in 2018, President Trump pulled the US out from the landmark deal abruptly restoring harsh sanctions on Iran.
Pezeshkian鈥檚 hard-line competitor Jalili, who strongly opposed the 2015 deal, said during Tuesday鈥檚 debate that the US must honor its commitments on par 鈥渨ith the commitments we fulfilled.鈥� He condemned his opponent for not having any plans for getting sanctions lifted and said he would resume talks about a nuclear deal.
Jalili, who is known as the 鈥淟iving Martyr鈥� after losing a leg in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and is famous among Western diplomats for his haranguing lectures and hard-line stances, also pledged to support the country鈥檚 stock exchange market by providing insurance to stocks as well as financial support to local industries.
Both candidates pledged to revive the economy, provide energy subsidies to poor people and facilitate importing cars while supporting the domestic auto industry. They did not elaborate on the source of funds they will need to fulfill their promises.
Iran will hold a runoff presidential election Friday, only its second since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, after only 39.9 percent of its voting public cast a ballot the previous week. Of over 24.5 million votes, more than 1 million ballots were later rejected 鈥� typically a sign of people feeling obligated to head to the polls but wanting to reject all the candidates.