Iran, fearing uprisings, holds presidential debate

By Mohammad Amin

The second televised presidential debate in Iran by the six candidates received a warning before it began.
"The debates should be on presidential issue[.] ... But we must avoid acts that rattle society," said Movahedi Kermani, the recent Friday prayer leader in Tehran, usually reflecting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's viewpoints.
These words referred to the 2009 uprising.  There is a belief in government circles that the audacious debate held prior to the 2009 presidential election sparked the follow-up uprisings.
Friday's debate followed the warning, and yet what the candidates were permitted to raise against each other in this limited scope of sanctioned topics was enough to bring shame upon one other.
"Last week the police discovered that Education Minister's daughter imported tons of Italian clothes and stored them in her house," said Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in response to a question on education.
"This is while parents send their daughters to school in turns so that they can take turns in using their one set of clothes and shoes," Ghalibaf continued.
The next jab was from incumbent president Hassan Rouhani.http://bit.ly/2r19pcz