In the final debates of Iran’s snap presidential election, the two front runners engaged in often feisty arguments about the way forward for the Islamic Republic. The two debates were held on July 1 and 2; each lasted more than two hours. The following are excerpts from the two debates, the first on political and cultural issues and the second on the economy. 

June 24

International: Jordanian police discovered and detonated explosives hidden in a commercial warehouse southeast of Amman. Security sources told Reuters that Iran was behind a plot to destabilize the kingdom, a key ally of the United States in the region.

Iranian leaders mourned the loss of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the other officials who died in the helicopter crash on May 19. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lauded Raisi, “the people’s president,” for his decades-long career in public service. Raisi became a prosecutor in the 1980s and quickly climbed the judiciary ranks. In 2019, Khamenei appointed him chief justice, a position he held until he was elected President in 2021.

On April 24, 2024, the United States sanctioned two companies and four men for launching operations against more than a dozen U.S. companies and government entities on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The “coordinated, multi-pronged campaign intended to destabilize our critical infrastructure and cause harm to our citizens,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson. The two firms, Mehrsam Andisheh Saz Nik and Daded Afzar Arman, were front companies for the Revolutionary Guards Cyber Electronic Command.

Israel struck Iran overnight on April 19, 2024, responding to Tehran’s April 13-14 largely ineffective attack of more than 330 drones and missiles. Israel’s retaliation appeared to be limited in scope and calibrated to avoid further escalation.