While each Presidential candidate put out general remarks about how he will repair Iran's battered economy, the news continues to be bleak for the Islamic Republic.
Bahar reports a new round of inflation for key goods and adds that there are shortages of subsidised currency --- at "official" rates, under which the Iranian Rial is three times stronger compared to "open-market" rates --- for imports of essential food items. Meanwhile, Mohammad-Reza Sabzalipour, the head of Iran's centre for exports, has pointed to deliberate currency manipulation amid the Rial's fall by 70% last year. Sabzalipour said that the Government, facing a 300 trillion Rial ($24.5 billion deficit at official rates, but only $8.5 billion at open-market rate) in the 2013/14 budget, was selling foreign currencies such as US dollars to get "open-market" Rials and thus nominally reduce the deficit. The Rial is officially at 12250:1 vs. the US dollar, but is selling at 36200:1 this week. Other leading figures have said the issue is even greater. MP Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam, a leading member of Parliament's Economy Committee, claim last November that the Government faced a deficit of 540 trillion Rials, while MP Ahmad Tavakoli, a prominent critic of the Government, has claimed the deficit is 860 trillion Rials. The Iranian currency and Government budget have been under pressure as oil income fell about 50% last year. Oil income accounts for 60% of Government revenues and 80% of total exports.
Presidential Election Watch: Aref Edition
Presidential candidate Mohammed-Reza Aref has said he did not meet with fellow candidate Hassan Rouhani to discuss forming a coalition.
Presidential Election Watch: Haddad- Adel Edition
Presidential candidate MP Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel told Iran's Press TV that he did not think it "impossible" that principlists would unite behind one candidate. However, it would be "difficult", Haddad-Adel admitted.
Haddad-Adel said that the goal of the principlist 2+1 Coalition --- himself, Ali Akbar Velayati and Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf --- was "to decide among the three of us that one of us would take part in the final elections."
"We wanted to prevent the diversity of candidates so that the principlist vote would not be broken," he explained.
The 2+1 Coalition has yet to decide on a "consensus candidate".
Haddad-Adel said that the term principlist means "believing in the thoughts of the late Imam Khomeini and his ambitions, and being faithful to the leadership of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, and calls for continuation of the Islamic Revolution brought and guaranteed by the path of Imam Khomeini."
Asked to describe the difference between Reformists and Principlists, Haddad-Adel said the term reformist has never had a specific definition.
"Among reformists there are people who think that reform will solve the administrative problems of the country, we don't have a problem with this," Haddad-Adel explained. "But there are some people who believe in a kind of secularism and instead of secularism they use the word reformism."
"We fundamentally disagree with them," he clarified.
Presidential Election Watch: Rouhani Edition
The campaign of former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani has live-tweeted the candidate's appearance on Iranian State TV's primary channel tonight.
#Rouhani starts program by introducing himself. His father told him to #work with agriculture/carpet weaving in the summer from age 11.
— Rouhani Campaign (@HassanRouhani) May 28, 2013
Rouhani built on this with stories of his mother running the household while his father was harassed by and he and his brother were on the run from the Shah's regime, and of his Ph.D. in law --- "important because it taught him how one must defend people's rights and national interests" --- jabbing at his fellow candidate Saeed Jalili:
#Rouhani: One who hasn't studied #law may not understand #difference between UNSC resolution and IAEA Board of Governors Resolution.
— Rouhani Campaign (@HassanRouhani) May 28, 2013
Rohani highlighted his loyalty and experience: "I am still [the] personal representative of [the] Supreme Leader in the Supreme National Security Council, this close bond can help solve country's problems". He then used his 16 years as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council --- eight of them under former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, banned from standing in this year's election --- to take a swing at Jalili, the current Secretary and nuclear negotiator: "The Supreme Leader praised the 2003 Tehran Declaration [negotiated by Rouhani] as breaking the US-Israeli conspiracy. [This is] how Iran avoided sanctions."
On the economic front, Rouhani declared:
Last year we faced recession instead of 8% growth...[and] tripling of inflation to 30%. We enjoy vast natural and human resources, enjoy a special geostrategic and political position --- so why do we face economic problems?
Problems are rooted in management...and specific figures/groups involved in management.
Echoing a line set out by Rafsanjani, Rouhani said he would base Iran's foreign policy on engagement, even of "enemies": "Building walls around our borders won't help anything. No country in the world can develop without constructive relationships. Foreign relations are not about wishes, it's about seeing the world for what it is. Moving towards goals, step by step."
The candidate concluded, "With coordination of government, academic centers, and industry, we can achieve economic revival --- everything is possible with prudence."
Presidential Election Watch: Rouhani Adopts Key As Campaign Symbol
Reformist Presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani has adopted a key as his campaign symbol.
@hassanrouhani adopts key (shown by #Rouhani in interview last night) as campaign symbol. #prudence #hope
— Rouhani Campaign (@HassanRouhani) May 28, 2013
Presidential Election Watch: Haddad- Adel Edition
Presidential candidate Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel --- like his rivals --- focussed on the economy in an address on Monday evening, saying that economic issues are the "most important obligation" of the next government.
I think addressing economic issues is the most important obligation of the next administration; that is to say our most important problem [is] and the administration’s top agenda must be to address economic issues.
The administration should not be carrying out trade itself. This is an essential issue that nowhere in the world is the administration a good trader; [rather] it should make policies, prepare infrastructures, plan, coordinate, supervise, guide and support.
Presidential Election Watch: Jalili Edition
Jalili Explains Iran's Foreign Policy "Discourse"
Jalili said Monday that Iran's foreign policy is based on the discourse of the Islamic Revolution.
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic has "its own values, principles, objectives and interests defined within the framework of a paradigm," the Supreme National Security Council secretary quipped.
Explaining why there are often differences between various countries in terms of their foreign policies, Jalili noted that: "The common points between these paradigms give rise to opportunities and subsequently points of interaction. The points of difference give rise to confrontation and threats."
Jalili Slams Rouhani On Nuke Talks
Like his Reformist rival Hassan Rouhani, Presidential candidate and Supreme National Security Council secretary Saeed Jalili has also focussed on his tenure as nuclear negotiator on Tuesday.
Jalili's campaign team tweeted comments made by campaign chief --- and Jalili's fellow nuclear negotiator --- Dr. Bagheri. The comments are also a dig at Jalili's rival, Reformist Presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani and his track record as a nuclear negotiator, a line Rouhani is pushing hard to reject today.
The Jalili team are emphasizing that after the Saadabad agreement, Iran "tied its hands" to further nuclear progress by halting enrichment and centrifuge production, while receiving nothing from the EU in return:
#Iran's obligations in Brussels statement: Saadabad+halting assembly, test, manufacturing centrifuges & enrichment. EU obligation: Nothing!
— Dr Saeed Jalili (@DrSaeedJalili) May 28, 2013
After Saadabad agreement, we tied up our hand to further progress N. technology & halted everything with the excuse of 'cooperation'. #Iran
— Dr Saeed Jalili (@DrSaeedJalili) May 28, 2013
Presidential Election Watch: Rouhani Edition
Rouhani "Sets Record Straight" On Nuke Talks
Reformist Presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani discusses his tenure as nuclear negotiator on State television, and "sets the record straight" as he puts it on his campaign's Twitter account.
#Rouhani sets record #straight on Iranian TV, shatters myths abt his tenure as #nuclear negotiator. W/ English subs: youtube.com/watch?v=MyHGPD…
— Rouhani Campaign (@HassanRouhani) May 28, 2013
Rouhani, who was secretary of the Supreme National Security Committee for 16 years, acted as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator from October 2003 through August 2005.
In the interview with IRIB, Rouhani rejects questions that under his tenure, Iran suspended its nuclear program under pressure from the West.
Rouhani's campaign team have released a video of the interview --- with English subtitles:
IRIB Reporter: These agreements, Saadabad, Brussels and Paris --- in essence, everything [about Iran's nuclear program] was suspended.
Rouhani: What you just said is a lie and you know it's a lie. In Saadabad and the negotiations in Tehran, there was no agreement. That talk is for illiterate [people]. You are not a novice in this field. Now, maybe they might tell you things in your earpiece, and those who say those things in your earpiece may be unknowledgeable, but you yourself know, so correct yourself.
Look, the Tehran Declaration was the Tehran Declaration --- in that declaration was a statement that everything should be halted, but we did not allow that. Only with those ten centrifuges that were operating in Natanz --- and even with those we only suspended their output.
Rouhani: "I Will Improve Business, Production"
Reformist Presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani has told Iran's State television that if he is elected on June 14, he will focus on improving the country's business and production capabilities.
Rohani commented on problems with Iran's economy, economic production, and the "resistance economy" --- a term coined by the Supreme Leader to mean Iran's "resistance" to Western sanctions:
You know that all these problems in the economic sector, of which you named a few, as well as similar problems in other sectors, are rooted in the issue of management and the efficiency of the administration. But in the field of economy, the solution for all problems is productivity…
“An economy of resistance does not mean austerity, just as the revered Leader of the [Islamic] Revolution stated. An economy of resistance means we should move toward domestic production; an economy of resistance means we should pursue our economic goals.”