Tehran, Iran – Seven candidates qualified to run in Iran’s June 18 presidential election have gone head-to-head in a televised debate, as controversy over the disqualification of other hopefuls persists.
Saturday’s three-hour event focused on the economy, which has taken a big hit in the past three years under United States sanctions and is characterised by rampant inflation and high unemployment. Two more debates are due to be held on Tuesday and next Saturday.
The first session was held without any moderation. Instead, the state television presenter picked out numbered balls from glass containers indicating what randomly selected question was to be asked to which candidate, who then had three minutes to offer their response.
Iran’s presidential election is fast approaching on June 18th. The Guardian Council, a governmental body composed of 12 clerics and jurists, has disqualified all but 7 out of the 592 candidates who registered to run. Out of these, the leading candidate is conservative Ebrahim Raisi, who lost to mode
The latest round of Vienna talks on restoring the JCPOA ended without a deal but Rouhani and his senior officials are still upbeat about resolving remaining differences. Meanwhile, the approved presidential candidates are campaigning, but the main moderate candidate is facing limitations. Khamenei h
Iran's powerful Guardians Council has barred prominent moderate politicians from running in the June 18 presidential election in a move that analysts say will place hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi as the leading candidate in the vote.