Iran's Rouhani breaks his silence on US presidential race
For the first time, Iran’s moderate president has spoken about the US presidential election — but even his criticism is dismissed by his hard-line opponents.
For the first time, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani spoke about the US presidential election, which is a hotly debated issue in the Iranian media.
On Oct. 23, Rouhani, while on a provincial trip to Arak in Markazi province, told the crowd, “The America that claims it enjoys more than 200 years of democracy and [holding] more than 50 presidential elections is now a major and industrial country that is devoid of morality, and this issue we witness in the [presidential] candidates’ debates.”
He continued, “At the United Nations, one of the leaders asked me which [US presidential candidate] I prefer, to which I replied, 'Should I prefer bad over worse or worse over bad?' We have seen the way of speaking, accusing, talking and mocking [each other] by the candidates, and this is the democracy and elections of the Americans.”
In an interview with Sobh-e-No newspaper on Oct. 23, which is close to conservative Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, conservative analyst Fouad Izadi described Hillary Clinton as the worst choice for Iran.
