Nuclear Agreement; Main Focus of Second Presidential Debate

In the second round of presidential debates, three conservative candidates stated that despite the nuclear agreement, Western sanctions against Iran have "intensified," while Hassan Rouhani implicitly accused the Revolutionary Guard of attempting to undermine this agreement. In the debate on Friday, May 5, Rouhani said, "Some showed images of underground cities to undermine the JCPOA, wrote slogans on missiles to undermine the JCPOA, but our people have overcome all of this." Rouhani's reference could point to the actions of the Revolutionary Guard, which has unveiled two underground missile depots as "missile cities" after the nuclear agreement. Iran's missile tests have also provoked protests from Western countries following the nuclear agreement, leading to the addition of several individuals and entities to related sanctions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran had previously asked the six candidates of the twelfth presidential election to refrain from "entering military and defense areas that are outside the powers of the presidency." After the second debate, Masoud Jazayeri, spokesman for this staff, reiterated the warning against candidates entering military and defense fields and rejected Rouhani's statements regarding the connection between missile programs and the nuclear agreement. In the debate, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ebrahim Raisi, despite criticizing the nuclear agreement, announced their commitment to it. These two presidential candidates emphasized that sanctions had not been lifted after the nuclear agreement and that there had been no "opening" in people's lives. In this context, Ebrahim Raisi referred to the nuclear agreement as a "check" that Rouhani's government "cannot cash." He emphasized that despite the nuclear agreement, Western sanctions against Iran, including banking sanctions, have not been lifted. Raisi also accused Rouhani of sending a "bad message" to the West during the nuclear negotiations with statements such as "the treasury is empty." He added, "With the messages that were sent, they created problems for us, and the result was that the other side received the message that the sanctions were effective, so they will not lift the sanctions." Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf also stated that after the Vienna nuclear agreement, Iran had "become" a "center for imports from Europe" and "in this result, four percent benefited." Mustafa Mir-Salim, another candidate, said that after this agreement, "sanctions intensified" and Iran's nuclear program was limited. In contrast, Hassan Rouhani urged the presidential candidates to "clearly tell the people what they will do with the JCPOA and how they will interact with the world." He addressed Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, saying, "If the implementation of the JCPOA is acceptable to you, why did you put up so many billboards in Tehran and say those things to those who were negotiating and, as you said, were in the battlefield? What did you do to them?" Rouhani told the conservative candidates, "You who opposed the JCPOA from the first day and were happy when Trump became president in America and tore up the JCPOA, today you must tell the people how you will deal with the JCPOA and whether the sanctions will return or not?" He also asked Ebrahim Raisi, "What information do you have about the JCPOA that you speak about it this way?" Mustafa Hashemi-Taba, another candidate, told Ebrahim Raisi that during the previous government and during the sanctions, "some were like an ostrich with their heads in the sand." Ishaq Jahangiri referred to the Vienna nuclear agreement as "one of the most important successes in Iran's history." He mentioned the increase in Iran's oil exports to two and a half million barrels, a 30 percent increase in petrochemical exports, and the release of tens of billions of dollars of Iran's frozen assets as some of the results of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Officials from Hassan Rouhani's government have repeatedly emphasized that if there had been no nuclear agreement, Iran's oil exports would have reached zero. Rouhani has previously stressed that this agreement "removed the shadow of war from Iran." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, rejected the discussion of the "shadow of war" being lifted from Iran by "some officials" and stated that "what has lifted the shadow of war, the shadow of the enemy from the country over these years, has been the presence of the people." In the debate, Mustafa Mir-Salim accused Hassan Rouhani of not tolerating opponents, and Ebrahim Raisi stated that Rouhani used 50 "insulting" phrases about critics. Mir-Salim said that Rouhani used terms such as "inhuman, destructive, coward, fearful, to hell, extremist, Stone Age, delusional, without identity, illiterate" about his critics. In response, Rouhani pointed to the attack on Ali Motahari in Shiraz in 2014 and said to Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, "Your friends attacked his car with bricks; how are we pursuing the advancement of education in the country?" He also implicitly criticized the ban on broadcasting the voice of Mohammad Reza Shajarian, a renowned singer of traditional Iranian music. Rouhani also raised the question of whether "minorities and ethnic groups in Iran have equal rights" in light of the opposition to the appointment of women and Sunnis to government positions. This presidential candidate also stated that government opponents are free in cyberspace, but some activists are "summoned for various reasons." Ishaq Jahangiri also mentioned resistance against attempts to block social networks, reopening party houses, and issuing permits for the activities of eight thousand NGOs as part of the government's efforts to develop political freedoms. He stated that government opponents "are fully engaged in undermining the government in cyberspace and in the press, and no one complains about them." In the debate, Ishaq Jahangiri emphasized that "security, restrictive, and punitive measures against Iranians wilt them." He said that "the presidency is not a training ground, and the economy of this country and the people cannot tolerate the tension, quarrels, and training of inexperienced politicians." Hassan Rouhani described the promises of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ebrahim Raisi as "hollow" and "populism." He also accused Qalibaf of copying the division of "four percent" and "96 percent" from the Occupy Wall Street movement. Ishaq Jahangiri stated that the presidential election is not a choice between bad and worse but rather "a choice between the right path and the wrong path." Ebrahim Raisi also stated that "there is neither a return to the past nor the current situation, but a change for the benefit of the people." He also accused Ishaq Jahangiri and Hassan Rouhani of "fear of rivals." In this debate, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Mustafa Mir-Salim announced that some of Hassan Rouhani's ministers are pursuing personal economic activities or, as they put it, "business." Raisi and Qalibaf emphasized that their plans for creating more than five million jobs are feasible. Qalibaf also asked the presidential candidates to declare their assets and those of their family members in the next debate. He reiterated that the hands of the "four percenters" must be cut off from the people's wealth and public assets. In this context, the simultaneous coverage of the second presidential debate, the complaints of four presidential candidates regarding the first debate and its aftermath, and Mir-Salim's criticism of the approaches of his electoral rivals were highlighted.