Iran’s presidential candidates talk economic policies in 2nd live debate ahead of June 28 vote

By AMIR VAHDAT
Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — In the second live debate on state television, six presidential candidates have discussed Iran’s economic problems ahead of the country’s June 28 election following a helicopter crash last month that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others. It was the second of five debates planned in the days before the vote in a shortened campaign to replace Raisi, a hardline protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once floated as a possible successor to the 85-year-old cleric. Like the first debate, the second one also related to economics with the candidates discussing their proposals for Iran’s spiraling economy which is struggling under sanctions imposed by the U.S, and other Western nations.