Iranian presidential candidates face off in 1st debate
Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran
After days of campaigning for the upcoming presidential vote in Iran, candidates now stand toe to toe for a debate.
On Saturday, the seven runners attended the first televised debate, which was aired live on national television. Themed with economy, the first debate required the candidates to answer common questions, ranging from monetary policies to domestic production and boosting exports.
The debate started with random questions to each of the candidates, but got raucous after Abdolnaser Hemmati picked on the other candidates, saying they are running to promote poverty rather than wealth.
Hemmati’s comment was not left unanswered, as Alireza Zakani lashed out at him by reminding him of his poor performance as the incumbent head of the Central Bank of Iran, blaming him for the unprecedented devaluation of the national currency, which is currently traded at 240,000 against the US dollar.
The pugnacious debate went on with blame games and with little information about the candidate’s future plans.
There are still two debates to go. The second and third debates will take place on Tuesday and Saturday respectively, which will investigate the candidates’ cultural and political policies.
While the first debate offered an opportunity for each of the candidates to try to stand out and make the best impression to voters, it also gave a chance to the public to weigh up all the choices in one go. Yet, it's still too soon to judge about who stands a better chance to win the race, since the rivalry is still on.
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