The second televised presidential debate
in Iran by the six candidates received a warning before it began.
"The debates should be on
presidential issue[.] ... But we must avoid acts that rattle society," said Movahedi
Kermani, the recent Friday prayer leader in Tehran, usually
reflecting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's viewpoints.
These words referred to the 2009 uprising.
There is a belief in government circles that the audacious debate held
prior to the 2009 presidential election sparked the follow-up uprisings.
Friday's debate followed the warning,
and yet what the candidates were permitted to raise against each other in this
limited scope of sanctioned topics was enough to bring shame upon one other.
"Last week the police discovered that
Education Minister's daughter imported tons of Italian clothes and stored them
in her house," said Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in
response to a question on education.
"This is while parents send their
daughters to school in turns so that they can take turns in using their one set
of clothes and shoes," Ghalibaf continued.
The next jab was from incumbent president Hassan Rouhani.
"When a member of the Majlis
[parliament] went to Shiraz [southern Iran] to give a speech, your friends
attacked him by throwing stones," he said.
Ebrahim Raisi, one of
the most important figures involved in the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political
prisoners, raised the issue of government fraud. "The Teachers' Fund
was looted, and officials stole 8 trillion tomans [equal to around $2.4
billion]," he revealed.
Another candidate, Mostafa Hashemitaba, a
so-called "reformist" and former vice president, unveiled an upcoming
crisis of colossal scale.
"It is estimated that 10 million
migrants will be added to the city populations, and this will create a struggle
between the different tribes ... threatening our internal security," he
explained.
Moreover, he spoke of a previously unknown
government scandal.
"We had an accord called Crescent due
to which we were fined $14.5 billion," he said.
Mostafa Mirsalim, a former culture
minister currently described as a conservative politician, called on Rouhani to
talk about the $3 to $4 billion that was embezzled under the pretext of
bypassing sanctions and to shed light on the fate of this huge amount of money.
He continued his attack on Rouhani, asking
why he lied about the country's economic growth rate and why he didn't explain
that 6% of the 8% in economic growth results from oil revenue.
International Monetary Fund estimates show that Iran's non-oil revenue
remains at 0.9%.
Rouhani and his deputy showed restraint in
this debate. After the debate, Rouhani's adviser Hesameddin Ashena
revealed the entire regime's fear of uprisings.
"In today's debate, Rouhani was
worried and didn't want the debate to be a shock to society,"
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