TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's president Hassan Rouhani has criticized the U.S. presidential candidates' behavior during their debates.

Speaking to a crowd during a visit to the central Iranian city of Arak, Rouhani said on Sunday: "Did you see the debate and the way of their speaking, accusing and mocking each other? Do we want such a democracy and election in our country?"

Iran holds presidential elections in May 2017.

Rouhani said that during his September visit to the UN General Assembly, he was asked which of the candidates he preferred. "I said, what? Should I prefer bad to worse or worse to bad?" he said in comments broadcast live by state television.

It was Rouhani's first public comment on the U.S. election.