Iran: Highlights from Islamic Republic' election TV debate(part1)

“What is being talked about these days during election campaigns is in effect denying the competency of the establishment of the Islamic Republic, while [giving the perception] that a group of looters and traitors have emerged from this system… If this situation were to continue, would there be anything left for the system of the Islamic Republic but a hollow shell?,” State-run daily Jomhouri Eslami, June 7, 2009

The following are highlights from Ahmadinejad-Moussavi so-called TV dabate on June 3, 2009:

Ahmadinejad:

• During the tenure of Moussavi, some things were sent from the airport [in Iran] to Saudi Arabia that led to the arrests [reference to the regime’s sending explosives to Saudi Arabia with Revolutionary Guards under the guise of pilgrims]. Our relations with Saudi Arabia were brought to an end.

• Moussavi explicitly [in the course of Israel’s attack in southern Lebanon] said that we will send military forces there to fight on the side of the Palestinian resistance. He said the Zionist regime must be erased.

• During the time of [Ali Akbar] Hashemi [Rafsanjani, chairman of the regime’s Expediency Council and part of Ahmadinejad’s rival faction] … numerous social crises engulfed our largest cities, and many people were killed.

• During the 18 Tir [July 1999 student protests], the movement seeking the regime’s overthrow wanted to take Tehran and move towards the heart of the regime. They issued public statements and were supported from beyond the country’s borders.

• [During Moussavi’s tenure], there was one time where a number of parliament members voted against Moussavi. These were secret ballots. But, their names were later ascertained, and publicized. They came under so much attack that they were forced to stay out of politics all together.

• [During Moussavi’s tenure] 95 billions of dollars was taken from the Central Bank by your government without Majlis [parliament] approval.

• You [Moussavi] refer to Khatami as “Dr.” Khatami. … But, he only has a bachelors degree in philosophy [not a PhD].

• Many government managers in your government and that of Mr. Hashemi started their jobs with empty pockets, but later became billionaires through export and import incentives working with dollar which was only worth 7 Tomans [in Iranian currency]. ( The market rate was 1000 Tomans to a $1)

• I have a list of pieces of land that were given to these managers, 400,000 square meters, 500,000 square meters, 800,000 square meters, 4 square kilometers. … Who got all this land? They are the ones who are now lending you support.

• In one instance, they handed out the Rasht Electric [company] to Mr. Karbaschi’s friends, his wife, and the wife of Mr. Ghobeh. They destroyed the factory and sold the land. There were dozens of other similar cases. They received 4 square kiometers of land in Hormozgan.

• Mr. Moussavi, if you want to talk about illegal behavior, then consider the case of Stat Oil. Mr. X was tried and then sentenced, but he got help and escaped, later traveling abroad. The end of the story leads to Mr. Hashemi’s son. Illegal behavior is associated with the sons of these men who are supporting you today.

• How did Mr. Nateq’s [Nouri] son become a billionaire? How is Mr. Nateq living himself now? These are your supporters, and they are linked with illegal behavior.

Moussavi:

• Our people are feeling the effects of these [Ahmadinejad’s] policies in their lack of peace of mind, in the economy, in the lack of parts they need for their industries, in the status of trade with the rest of the world, in the lack of credibility for their passports at the international level, in the demeaning of Iranians everywhere in the world.

• What evil have we done against our university staff and students, youth, and our people that wherever I go I see protest? Wherever I go, they say that they have been subjected to insults. We have assigned [disciplinary] stars to students, arrested some, and expelled others.

• Why are all these artists opposing the government? They are under strain and have been faced with problems at the national level.

• We see the government’s relations with clerics. … Has the government thought about why its relations with clerics have been harmed?

• Why has the government’s relations with intellectuals been destroyed? Why has it lost touch with the youth?

• Industry is almost on the brink of collapse, the rate of inflation is at 25%, money supply has jumped two and a half times since you took office.