Nasser Hemmati on the campaign trail

Read quick updates on what Nasser Hemmati says on the campaign trail below. Check routinely for new content.

[Saturday, June 12, 2021]

Iran’s third presidential debate: Part I

The seven candidates in Iran’s 2021 presidential election held the third and final debate on live television on Saturday (June 12). Here is part one of that debate.

Iran’s third presidential debate: Part II

The seven candidates in Iran’s 2021 presidential election held the third and final debate on live television on Saturday (June 12). Here is part two of that debate.

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[Friday, June 11, 2021]

Hemmati said in an interview on Jam-e Jam television network that he plans to rectify economic governance in Iran and his potential administration will be based on the expertise of economists.

“We seek to ask politicians to leave, and to have economists govern,” Hemmati, himself an economist, said.

“We have to curb inflation, build the foundation to have [foreign] investment in the country rise, and increase production,” he said. “All of that would be a virtuous cycle that the entire world has already learned [to practice].” He added that 130 countries in the world had resolved the issue of high inflation. “We are among the few ones remaining.”

He said economic stability required the removal of the sanctions on Iran first.

“The JCPOA is a good foundation for us. America needs to return to the JCPOA and terminate the sanctions,” Hemmati said, using an abbreviation to refer to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. “The latest I know of is that serious decisions have been made in the [Vienna] negotiations, and I am very optimistic that the JCPOA will be revived and the sanctions will be lifted under the… [incumbent President Hassan Rouhani] administration.”

“If that doesn’t happen [under Rouhani], one of my priorities… will be to activate the JCPOA and [to bring about] the termination of the sanctions so the country’s economy will be able to breathe,” he said.

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[Wednesday, June 9, 2021]

Hemmati gave an interview to the Associated Press. Asked about his plans if the talks in Vienna over the nuclear deal fail, Hemmati said he would manage that as president.

“We managed to neutralize the sanctions and run the economy over the past three years of difficult sanctions,” he said. “Definitely I have plans for that (scenario) as well, but we will try to help the deal reach positive results, God willing.”

Asked about his chances for election, Hemmati offered an optimistic assessment.

“Against those five people (candidates0 who belong to the same political front, I don’t count them as rivals,” Hemmati said. “My rival is the people’s breakup with the ballot box.”

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[Tuesday, June 8, 2021]

Iran’s second presidential debate: Part I

The seven candidates in Iran’s 2021 presidential election held a second debate on live television on Tuesday (June 8). Here is part one of that debate.

Iran’s second presidential debate: Part II

The seven candidates in Iran’s 2021 presidential election held a second debate on live television on Tuesday (June 8). Here is part two of that debate.

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[Saturday, June 5, 2021]

Hemmati, 64, said in fiery opening remarks on the first presidential debate before the June 18 election that “a majority” of the Iranian society, including women, had no representation among the candidates, an explicit appraisal of the disqualification of some Reformist figures and others by Iran’s Constitutional Council from running in the election.

Heading the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) until recently, he distanced himself from President Hassan Rouhani and rejected the notion that he was the president’s representative in the election.

Hemmati also said his main aim was to bring about change in economic governance. “We had politicians run the economy for years, let’s have politics be defined by economics for once.” He said time was short and “we have to start economic reforms sooner. I will publish my plans in that regard.”

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