„We do not lend much credence to the remarks made in these debates and electoral activities,“ Iranian officials told Newsweek.
As Iran holds its own presidential elections Friday, officials from the Islamic Republic told Newsweek they saw little significance in the remarks made during the first 2024 election debate between President Joe Biden and former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The televised bout, which took place Thursday night, proved to be among the most controversial in U.S. history, with many observers noting the sitting president’s difficulty in speaking coherently and his rival predecessor standing accused of substantially misrepresenting facts. While the candidates sparred on a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues, they notably both tried to portray themselves as tougher on Iran at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
In Tehran, however, the spectacle drew a largely dismissive reaction within official circles.
„We have no intention of interfering in the domestic politics of the United States“, the Iranian Embassy to the United Nations said in a statement shared with Newsweek.
„However, we do not lend much credence to the remarks made in these debates and electoral activities“, the Iranian Mission added, „as they are more emotional than logical and lack strategic backing.“
U.S.-Iran tensions worsened throughout the tenure of both leaders.
After a brief period of de-escalation following the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached under former U.S. President Barack Obama, Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the multilateral agreement in 2018. The Trump administration significantly expanded sanctions against Iran, which in 2019 began to gradually reduce its own commitments to the accord.
That year saw a spike in attacks conducted by militias supportive of Iran against U.S. troops in Iraq, sparking a cycle of violence that crested with Trump ordering the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani and his entourage in Baghdad in January 2020. Iran responded with an unprecedented barrage of missiles targeting U.
