Iran’s presidential candidates discuss economic sanctions and nuclear deal ahead of Friday runoff [Video]

TEHRAN – Iranian presidential candidates on Tuesday discussed the impact of economic sanctions imposed on their country by the United States and other Western nations and presented their proposals for reviving a nuclear deal with world powers.

It was the second — and last — live debate on state television pitting little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator, ahead of Friday’s runoff election in which voters will choose a successor for the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died last month in a helicopter crash.

Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, said that sanctions imposed by the West have badly hurt Iran’s economy. He cited a 40% inflation over the past four years and the increasing poverty rates. “We live in a society in which many are begging on the streets,” he said, adding that his administration would “immediately” work to try to get sanctions lifted and vowed to “repair” the economy.

As …