Civil Liberties Touted by Two Iranian Presidential Candidates

Changes afoot?

Two Iranian presidential candidates used the second debate before next week's election to call for greater press freedom and social liberties.

All eight candidates took part in the program organized and aired by Iran's state television, with the aim of introducing their views on society and culture. While some underlined the importance of Iran's "Islamic culture" being supported or celebrated, others used the time allotted to criticize what they described as harmful restrictions on the population.

"Let people have more freedom, let's not intervene so much in their lives," said Hassan Rohani, a cleric who was Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in the early 2000s. "Cultural issues must be solved through culture itself. Police should be the last resort."