Iran: Among Key Topics in Pence-Harris Debate

Issues such as coronavirus, racism, climate change, and relations with China and Iran were central topics in the second televised debate of the U.S. presidential election. A portion of the debate was devoted to the JCPOA and Qasem Soleimani.

The second round of the televised debate of the U.S. presidential election, featuring the running mates of Trump and Biden, took place on Wednesday evening, October 7 (September 16 in the Iranian calendar) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although the televised debate between the running mates of the electoral candidates in America does not hold as much importance as the debate between the main candidates, it had been considered significant following Trump’s infection with coronavirus.

Issues such as coronavirus, racism, climate change, relations with China and Iran were raised in this televised debate.

Kamala Harris, in a discussion about coronavirus, pointed to the rising number of coronavirus cases in America and attacked Trump administration policies, saying that he has been unable to combat and manage the virus. Pence, in response, defended Trump’s policies and said that the president closed borders in a timely manner, stopped travel from China, and prevented the spread of the virus.

Biden’s running mate, while criticizing Trump’s foreign policy, said Trump has isolated America and made it less secure through his policies. He emphasized that America’s friends have been betrayed and Trump has allied himself with dictators around the world.

Kamala Harris criticized America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and said that through this action, Iran increases its nuclear reserves.

Trump’s running mate said Iran is the “world’s greatest state sponsor of terrorism.” Pence, comparing America’s relations with Iran during the Obama and Trump eras, stated that during the presidency of Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden, money was given to such a country, but during the Trump era, Qasem Soleimani was killed.

According to Pence, Qasem Soleimani was killed while traveling to Baghdad with the intention of killing American citizens.

Kamala Harris, in response to Pence, referenced Iran’s missile attacks and said that in those attacks, a number of American service members suffered traumatic brain injury, but Trump downplayed the incident and called it a “headache.”

Donald Trump did not publish a tweet about his running mate’s debate, but Joe Biden’s campaign office made the landing of a fly on Mike Pence’s head during the debate a subject of discussion. The campaign office, by publishing an image of Biden with a fly swatter, sought financial assistance for his campaign.

Kamala Harris, a 55-year-old senator, is the first non-white American woman to appear in a U.S. presidential election as the running mate of a main candidate in such elections. This lawyer previously served as the district attorney of San Francisco and the attorney general of California. Kamala Harris’s mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican. She is the second Black woman in American history to reach the Senate.