WANA (June 18) –The essential parts of the presidential candidates’ comments in the first televised debate are here. Candidates will debate each other in 5 rounds.

The presidential elections in Iran will be held on June 28, 2024.

 

Mostafa Pourmohammadi:
The government’s duty is to ensure security and provide people with a life of comfort and tranquility.
Attention must be paid to infrastructure, especially communication and electronic networks, which should be developed and made affordable. We should utilize modern economic engineering to run the country. Achieving our (national) goals requires consensus and a unified discourse on the international stage. The resistance economy is central to (my) government’s (economic) discourse.

 

Alireza Zakani:
The country needs a manager who is both honest and capable of fighting corruption, as well as being effective in his work.
Entrusting work to experts and becoming indifferent about the performance is wrong.
If we want people to participate in politics, we must make people participate in the economy.
Instead of subsidies, we should give people gold credits. Subsidies should be given for energy without changing the price.

 

Saeed Jalili:
People are faced with a choice between two perspectives: one is an everyday option, and the other is an opportunity to leap forward.
Regarding inflation, the first point is the sovereignty of rial, which means the government should know how money circulates and moves in the economy to manage and govern it.
Privatization is meant to increase productivity, not for governments to make income from it.

People watch the debate of presidential candidates at a park in Tehran, Iran June 17, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf:
Today, most of our (economic) problems in the country are rooted in imprudence in creating policies.
The Central Bank of Iran must stand firm and deal with forces that create money and put pressure on people.
The people of Iran have the opportunity to make the world envy our progress with their choice (in the upcoming election).

 

Masoud Pezeshkian:
I never said we should bring in managers from abroad. I said we should bring in advisors.
My life is based on honesty, and that won’t change. The country is not to be run through conflict and disputes.
Let us join hands because the Islamic Republic of Iran needs coordination and unity. Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s general policies are our path forward.
We must use the experience of other countries (in resolving economic issues).

 

Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh
The government should not compete with the private sector; the private sector is a strategic partner of the government, and the government should support its development.
I consider myself committed to the programs of President Ebrahim Raisi’s government.
Making promises causes people to believe everything; if promises are not fulfilled, people become disillusioned with the ballot box. People are tired of promises.
Let’s not speak as if the world started today, and we should not criticize the past without considering our roles in it.

 

WANA - Iran's presidential election 2024

WANA – Iran’s presidential election 2024