TEHRAN — As we get closer to the election day, candidates begin campaigns in social media, TV and radio. The Tehran Times gathered all the remarks the presidential candidates made in the past 24 hours.

Saeed Jalili criticized the education system in Iran, tweeting that over 20,000 high school students studying empirical science have an average of 19 and above (out of 20), yet only a few of them can enter the universities to study medicine, whereas the country needs more medical doctors than ever. “We have more facilities than before in the country. Why shouldn’t these opportunities be used?” he asked.

He also proposed a plan to give every Iranian a fair share of energy subsidy. “Every Iranian must have an equal share of energy, and if he does not want to use it, he must receive the price of it,” he stated. 

Mohsen Rezaei discussed various issues, such as establishing a “Southwestern Asian Union,” and creating an environment for economic development. 

He said that he will consider housework as a job for household women with two children, paying them monthly salaries. 
“Child rearing and family health are important. In this regard, we consider women who have two or more children and spend their time raising children and family health as employed. After 6 months of training, we pay these women salaries,” he explained.

He also claims that he will grant a cash subsidy of 450,000 tomans (almost $107 at the official rate of 42,000 rials) to 40 million Iranians per month. He says he has worked on this plan for four years. The presidential contender has also stated that he is planning to give each province economic provisions to govern its affairs.

“If I am talking today about the subsidy of 450,000 tomans, this estimate is quite accurate. It has scientific basis and is applicable. We operate in a way that is non-inflationary and does not incur costs for the government because $130 billion in subsidies are given annually, many of which are being spent by the rich from subsidies to gasoline and electricity to other things,” Rezaei stated. 

He said that his administration’s diplomacy will move towards regional diplomacy “because we consider Iran to be regionally important.”

Rezaei stated that until the Islamic Republic does not stabilize its position in the region, it will not be able to make leaps internationally. 

“A successful presence in the region will pave the way for a successful international presence,” the former chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps added. 

He called the establishment of the “Southwest Asian Union” in line with Iran's regional diplomacy and said, "This union consists of 25 countries and will be similar to the European Union. These 25 countries have more than 1,200 billion dollars in foreign exchange, with which we have a very small share." 

Qazizadeh Hashemi said on Sunday that pseudo currency should be used in economy, but not in cash. He said that gold, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency are pseudo currencies Iran is using right now, but it should not be cashed. 

He also said no Iranian will remain homeless under his administration.

The presidential candidate also criticized injection of huge liquidity into the economy, saying it has raised the inflation rate to up to 50%. 

He stated that as a physician he cares about the public health. 

“Healthy food should reach people. For this reason, we have designed a monthly package of 300,000 tomans (almost $72) for each Iranian.”

By this amount of money citizens can buy food rich in calories and vitamins and also healthy and diversified, he explained. 

In this context, his team has planned from seed to table how to manage exports, prices and toxins in food products and processing of agricultural materials.

He also says that Iran should not even be selling one drop of crude oil. 

“Smart governments are future governments” that make predictions and “then plan for them,” he opined. “We will have a smart and young government and a ‘government of greetings’ for the future of new Iran, which aims to build Iran,” he stated.

Mohsen Mehr Alizadeh said that Iran should think about export as it thinks about production. 

“We should provide export incentives, especially for the preservation of export markets in neighboring countries, and in no way should we allow a ministry or agency to issue an order every day,” he pointed out. 

“Currently, about 70% of the country's production capacity consists of small production units, and most of them have been shut down due to these cumbersome bureaucratic  issues and circulars,” he added. 

He said that he will increase by five times the subsidy for five low-income deciles from the second month of his presidency. 

Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi said on Sunday that internet must be free for low-income deciles. 

“Banking facilities must be properly distributed for production, marriage and housing,” the cleric presidential candidate said. 

He said that today the internet has become the right of the people, and educational, economic, and research issues are being carried out in cyberspace in all parts of the country.

“Why not letting people work in cyberspace? A housewife who cooks or a teacher who produces content should get her share of what she does,” he suggested.

He said that the popular government has clear plans to make money from the internet.

Abdolnasser Hemmati, the presidential candidate trained in economy, said on Monday morning that by lifting the sanctions, his government will see at least a 5% economic growth and it will be able to lower inflation rate to 8 to 12%.

“Economic prosperity and exports are highly important and have a great impact on the country's economic prosperity. We can increase non-oil exports by up to 50%,” he said.

According to Hemmati, in addition to the issue of employment, which is highly important, the social life of the youth also has a high priority.

Hemmati said, “Before we fight corruption, we must confront its origin, and we must not allow corruption to occur in the country, and we must eliminate the grounds for corruption.”

The presidential candidate said that all over the world, subsidies are paid through taxes, and Iran cannot solve the problem if it does not tax properly.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Hemmati said, “My effort is for the presence of people who are angry with the ballot boxes and do not intend to participate in the elections.” He added, “In order to change the course” he has entered the election race.” 

He said that government interference in economic affairs, such as the price of tires, chicken feed, etc., must be eliminated, and the government must focus on infrastructure.

SA/PA