TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- The chief of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces says as many as 300,000 members of the service will be deployed to guarantee security during general elections next month.  
Brigadier General Hussein Ashtari said the elections are "the most important political event” to take place in the country, adding his forces are directly responsible to thwart any possible threat.
"The country enjoys exemplary security,” but "the armed forces, police and the security apparatus should always assume that something is going to happen," he said.
"We should pay attention to the regional and international developments, and maintain necessary readiness to confront any type of threat,” Ashtari added.
He touched on the activities of Takfiri and Salafi groups, saying "thanks to the readiness of the armed forces and the vigilance of the Eminent Leader of the Revolution (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei), all plots have been foiled" so far.
"We should maintain this readiness and vigilance because preparedness would forestall any movements in various domains."   
Ashtari said police's "preemptive measures and intelligence superiority have always played an effective and useful role in confronting threats in various areas.”
Iran's armed and security forces, he said, have thwarted individuals and groups who sought to infiltrate the country and harm the establishment in the past.  
With Iranians gearing up to go to the polls next month, police's priority is to enhance intelligence command and operational preparedness in border areas, he said.
In recent years, Iran's borders with Iraq in the West and those with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east have faced security challenges from Takfiri and other groups which Tehran says are supported by U.S., British and Saudi intelligence services.   
On Monday, commander of the Special Units of the Iranian Police Force Hassan Karami said 20,000 special police forces would be providing security at the ballot boxes on the voting day on May 19.
First Salvos
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) was to air the draw for broadcasting live debates of presidential candidates on Sunday which saw one candidate launching his first criticism of the current administration.
Radio Iran as well as IRIB TV1 and the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) channels were to broadcast the event.
On Saturday, the Election Campaign Monitoring Committee revised an earlier decision not to broadcast live presidential debates after criticism from candidates and many Iranians.
Iran’s Interior Ministry spokesman Seyyed Salman Samani said the decision was rescinded after members of the panel agreed by consensus to give live air time to the candidates to discuss their election plans.
On Sunday, Ehsan Qazizadeh Hashemi, a member of the IRIB council for presidential election campaigns, said the first three-hour debate will be held on Friday.
The six candidates qualified to run in the race are Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim, Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, Es’haq Jahangiri, Hassan Rouhani, Muhammad-Baqer Qalibaf and Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi.  
On the campaign trail, Rouhani traveled to the northern city of Qazvin while Mirsalim held his first press conference in Tehran to stress that he will not leave the field in favor of any candidate.
He also took aim at the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers under the Rouhani administration, saying it has failed to lift sanctions or improve the country's economy.
Mirsalim said if elected, he would abide by the nuclear deal but the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration had already undermined the agreement.
Last week, the State Department certified that Iran was complying with the nuclear deal, but Trump, a longtime critic of the agreement, claimed Tehran was violating the spirit of the accord and that the U.S. might withdraw from it.
Switching to French at one point during the press conference, the France-educated Mirsalim said he wanted to transform Iran into a "safe international hub" for "regional and international dialogue and constructive engagement."
Many Iranians have criticized the nuclear deal, saying Rouhani gave too much away and that the economy remains weak despite the lifting of sanctions.
Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his close ally Hamid Baghaei, both of whom were disqualified from running in the election, said in a joint statement that they will not support any of the candidates.
Qalibaf traveled to Sari in the Caspian Sea and plans to go next to the holy city of Qom on Monday when Raeisi will visit Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province near the border with Pakistan.
Some 55 million Iranians are eligible to vote for a new president in what is expected to be a close race. Previous election results have usually produced major surprises.
The two major factions in the elections are Reformists and Principlists. Rouhani narrowly won the election last time with 51 percent in the first round, helped by a divided Principlist camp which Raeisi represents this time around.