Iranian presidential candidates campaign three days before election

Iranian presidential hopefuls Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim (R), Is’haq Jahangiri (C), and Ebrahim Raeisi

Iranian presidential candidates continue electioneering three days before the vote.

First Vice President Is’haq Jahangiri, who has been campaigning as a close associate of President Hassan Rouhani, said in a televised interview on Monday that the priority of the next administration would be to speed up tangible economic growth and a fight against corruption that would be bound by no red lines.

He said there were up to three million unemployed people in Iran and 950,000 jobs were needed each year as per the government's economic plans. He said an economic growth rate of eight percent, if achieved, would hugely contribute to job creation.

Jahangiri, who is expected to drop out of the race in favor of Rouhani, himself rerunning for office, also promised continued “powerful diplomacy and interaction” with the world toward improving the country’s economic situation.

As many as 3,000 science-based companies have been created under the current government, he said.

Raeisi seeks to cash ‘the Iran deal check’

Ebrahim Raeisi, another candidate, who has served in different capacities at the Iranian Judiciary, addressed crowds of supporters in the city of Isfahan. There, he said that the Islamic Republic’s 2015 nuclear deal with world countries — negotiated by and considered a landmark legacy of President Rouhani’s administration — had not been used to as much advantage as it could have.

He said a “revolutionary administration” was needed to cash the “check of the deal.”

Turning to the economy, he said, “The situation should neither return to how it used to be, nor should it be tolerated as it is.”

Separately, he said “a favorable attitude” toward foreign governments was wrongful but added that his potential government would engage in “interaction with all countries, especially neighbors, while retaining its authority and status.”

Aqa-Mirsalim vows govt. of the youth

Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council running for presidency, said his potential administration would be full of “strong, experienced, and vibrant” youths.

He also vowed the provision of affordable housing for young couples, saying that such affordability should not be mistaken for low quality, and that the government had to offer free land for housing operations benefiting the youths.

Two other candidates, namely Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and former vice president Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, have effectively stood down in favor of, respectively, Raeisi and President Rouhani.

Qalibaf has asked his supporters to shift their backing to Raeisi but has not explicitly indicated an official withdrawal from the race. Hashemi-Taba has likewise said he would himself vote for President Rouhani but would not quit the race.