{{Iran’s eight presidential candidates quarreled about talks with world powers over the country’s disputed nuclear program Friday as they held their final televised debate ahead of next week’s election}}.
Iran’s president does not have control of central issues like nuclear development policy but does generally enjoy a close relationship with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that can prove influential.
The issue also has come to the fore as the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy has emerged as a major focus of campaigning ahead of the June 14 vote.
Iran is suffering from 30% inflation and 14% unemployment. Western oil and banking sanctions over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment have deeply cut its revenues.
The U.S. and its allies fear that Iran may be aiming to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran denies.
Iran was referred to the U.N. Security Council after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005 with a bombastic style and hard-line platform.
Iran’s former nuclear negotiator, the centrist Hasan Rowhani, suggested a more conciliatory stance at the negotiating table.
“We should look broadly. Once people live under economic hardships, their dignity is undermined. It’s very good to see (nuclear) centrifuges rotating but only when people could make ends meet, when factories and industry could run smoothly,” he said.
“All our problems (under Ahmadinejad) are because all efforts were not made to prevent the (nuclear) dossier from being sent to the Security Council.”
Most of the sanctions, leveled for Iran’s refusal to stop uranium enrichment, have been imposed during the tenure of Iran’s main nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who also is running for president.
{wirestory}
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