Iran's presidential candidates discuss economic sanctions and nuclear deal ahead of July 5 runoff
Posted 7/2/24
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — 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 …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Iran's presidential candidates discuss economic sanctions and nuclear deal ahead of July 5 runoff
In this photo made available by Iranian state-run TV, IRIB, Iranian presidential candidate reformist Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a debate with hard-line candidate Saeed Jalili at the TV studio in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Iran will hold a runoff presidential election Friday, only its second since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, after only 39.9% of its voting public cast a ballot the previous week. (Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/IRIB via AP)
Posted
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — 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 — and last — live debate on state television pitting little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator, ahead of Friday’s 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's economy. He cited a 40% inflation over the past four years and the increasing poverty rates. “We live in a society in which many are begging on the streets," he said, adding that his administration would “immediately” work to try to get sanctions lifted and vowed to “repair” 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’s parliament and finding possible alternatives. “No government in history has been able to flourish inside a cage,” he said, referring to the impact of sanctions on Iran's spiraling economy.
Pezeshkian's hard-line competitor Jalili, who strongly opposed the 2015 deal, said during Tuesday's debate that the U.S. must honor its commitments on par “with the commitments we fulfilled.” 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 “Living Martyr” 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's 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% of its voting public cast a ballot the previous week. Of over 24.5 million votes, more than 1 million ballots were later rejected — typically a sign of people feeling obligated to head to the polls but wanting to reject all the candidates.