US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump clashed over their Iran record in their first televised debate Thursday night, with each accusing the other of weakness and neither offering a clue about their policy towards the Islamic Republic.
Both candidates referenced Iran despite there being no questions about the country. The bulk of the 90-minute program focused on US domestic issues, particularly immigration and the economy.
When discussing foreign policy, the focus was on the war in Ukraine, followed by the crisis in Gaza and the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Iran was invoked only as an attack line by both sides, with no insight into how the next US administration may deal with the Islamic Republic and its Revolutionary Guards.
“Iran was broke. Anybody that did business with Iran, including China, they couldn’t do business with the United States. They all passed,” Trump said, claiming success in curtailing Iran’s anti-American activities in the Middle East. “Iran was broke. They had no money for Hamas, Hezbollah, for terror. No money whatsoever.”
Trump’s 'maximum pressure' campaign sharply reduced Iran’s oil revenues. The trend did change, however, during the last months of his tenure –and was cemented once Biden took office and set in motion his plan to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that Trump had unilaterally voided in 2018.
Surprisingly, Iran’s nuclear program got no mention, even though both candidates have many times vowed to do ‘everything’ possible to stop the Islamic Republic being armed by a nuclear bomb, calling it “the world’s biggest state sponsor of terror”.
Biden did not offer any direct defense of his Iran policy. Instead, he attacked Trump for not doing much outside tough speech. “Iran attacked our troops, but [Trump] did nothing,” Biden said, apparently referring to the retaliatory targeting of US base Ayn al-Asad following the killing of Iran’s top military man, Qasem Soleimani. “He called our troops’ brain injuries minor headaches.”
In spite of clear differences in outlook and style, the two candidates seemed to share the desire to appear tough on Iran, especially following the October 7 attack on Israel, which many believe would not have happened without Tehran’s support for Hamas.
Trump claimed once more that the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel would never have happened under his watch. He accused Biden of destroying the United States and losing the respect of the rest of the world. Biden pointed out that he had mobilized “50 countries” to defend Israel when Iran launched dozens of drones and missiles towards Israel in April.
The talking points will likely continue beyond Thursday’s televised debate, and Iran will likely feature again in both candidates’ election campaign –perhaps not as heavily as many expected, however, if the first debate is anything to go by.