"The differences among the candidates are clear. The final sprint has begun," said leading economic daily Donya-e Eqtesad about the debate last evening.
Reformist daily Arman hailed the discussions, saying they "showcased differences."
The eight men vying for the presidency clashed in the heated exchange over nuclear talks with world powers, with pointed criticism aimed at top nuclear negotiator and hardline candidate Saeed Jalili, a frontrunner in the June 14 election.
"I would have liked to have written that the winner of last night's debate was (moderate) Hassan Rowhani or (reformist) Mohammed Reza Aref, but I have to say (conservative) Ali Akbar Velayati was the real winner," wrote political analyst Sadegh Zibakalam in reformist daily, Etemad.
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"Nobody can accuse Velayati of being uninformed, or linked to the West... Or as not part of the conservative camp".
Velayati, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had lashed out at Jalili for his handling of nuclear negotiations with world powers.
"The art of diplomacy is that we save the nuclear right, while at the same time, we reduce the sanctions," Velayati said.
Under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran has been slapped with several rounds of sanctions targeting its ailing economy, leading to raging inflation and high unemployment.
Aref criticised what he said was political pressure on his supporters.
"Is it normal to prevent my supporters from showing portraits of Mohammad Khatami?" he asked during the debate referring to the reformist ex-president accused of backing opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in the 2009 presidential election.
Mousavi and Karroubi had denounced as fraudulent the result of that election, and tens of thousands of their supporters took to the streets opposing Ahmadinejad's return to office for a second term.