Transparency Essential to Combat Corruption

Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri, who is running for president in the May 19 election, has said rampant corruption has struck major blows to national interests and highlighted the need for promoting transparency across all sectors.

"Corruption is one of the major problems of the country. It has hampered the development of national economy," Jahangiri said in a campaign interview with state broadcaster on Saturday.

Jahangiri and other officials of the government of moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who is also seeking reelection, hope to exploit the situation emerging after the removal of economic sanctions under the 2015 nuclear agreement to attract foreign investment for revitalizing the stagnant economy.

But they are now under fire from conservative rivals who seek to denigrate the government's performance, citing the troubled production sector and the large number of unemployed people.

The vice president said corruption is partly to blame for lack of domestic and foreign investment.

"Corruption deters investors. When they observe that some have amassed huge wealth overnight by pulling strings while others have not achieved even a fraction of that fortune after years of toiling, they lose motivation," he said.

"Foreign investors hold back from a country plagued with corruption and the private sector steers clear of [such a market]."

Jahangiri noted that for eliminating corruption, all bodies should be subjected to strict supervision to ensure complete transparency.

"Every institution in the establishment should be required to work in rooms with glass walls. If we are to root out corruption, all the system's bodies need to act transparently," he said.

Campaigning started on April 21 and will last until 24 hours before the vote.

The four other candidates are former conservative culture minister, Mostafa Mirsalim, former pro-reform vice president, Mostafa Hashemitaba, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ebrahim Raeisi, the custodian of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH) and former prosecutor general.

They participated in the first televised debate on Friday, with the next two scheduled for May 5 and May 12.