![Iranian Presidential candidate Ibrahim Raisi[C], a conservative candidate with close ties with the country's Supreme Leader Alio Khamenei, is considered to be the main rival to the incumbent president Hasan Rouhani. Photo: Mehr News Agency.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.rudaw.net%2Fs3%2Frudaw.net%2FContentFiles%2F300656Image1.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— Iran’s conservative presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi says poverty and unemployment in Kurdish regions are “unacceptable” and can be reversed given the wealth and skilled labor force in the area.
Raisi traveled to the western province of Kurdistan on Tuesday to meet supporters as part of his presidential campaign and praised the Kurdish people as “resilient” and “highly skilled.”
“The potentials of the people of Kurdistan are very high. I believe that in artistic, financial and agricultural sectors, there have been great works done by the people of this region but in no ways it is sufficient,” he told Iranian state media Wednesday.
“It is unacceptable that given the rich and valuable wealth and resources in this region, the young people of this area have difficulty finding jobs. That is unacceptable for us,” he added.
Iran’s four predominantly Kurdish regions of Kermanshah, Ilam, Kurdistan and Western Azerbaijan are among the most impoverished regions in the country with unemployment rates often considerably higher than the rest of the country.
Incumbent President Hasan Rouhani, who will likely need Kurdish and Sunni votes in Iran to defeat his conservative opponent, has promised more Kurdish cultural and educations rights, but critics have accused his administration of ignoring the Kurdish regions in the government’s economic plans.
“This situation must change and with the help of the skilled manpower in this region, it is possible to turn things around and raise the living standards,” Raisi added.
In other remarks he denied that there is such a term as the majority and minorioty in Iran saying that all Iranians are "united" and all are part of the "great nation of Iran", Mehr News Agency reported.
Rouhani’s Kurdish supporters have attacked Raisi and described him as a “hypocrite” who partly bears responsibility for the economic conditions in Kurdish regions.
“A man who has held various official posts over the past 30 years and never thought about the Kurds and the Sunnis and other groups, how can he be an advocate of our rights now,” said Jalal Jalaizade, head of the Rouhani presidential campaign in Kurdistan.
“If we vote for Rouhani it is because he has demonstrated that he considers the rights of other groups as equally important,” Jalalizade said Wednesday.
Many still expect Rouhani to win another term when Iranians go to the polls on May 19. But the emergence of Raisi as the conservative favorite has tightened the race and raised concerns about oil, the country's nuclear deal with the western Powers, and the Iranian economy.
President Rouhani canceled a planned visit to Kurdistan province last Tuesday. His campaign said that the visit would take place on Sunday.
