(Tehran) Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday endorsed the election of reformist Massoud Pezeshkian as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic.
“I approve of the election [du] “I appoint Mr. Pezeshkian as the wise, honest, popular and scholarly man, and I appoint him as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Khamenei said in a message read out by his office director.
Elected in the second round of the presidential election on July 5, Massoud Pezeshkian, 69, is due to be sworn in on Tuesday before Parliament to begin a four-year term.
He will succeed Ebrahim Raïssi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
Upon his inauguration, Pezeshkian appointed reformist Mohammad Reza Aref as his first vice president, state television reported.
Mr Aref, 72, held the same position during the second government of reformer Mohammad Khatami from 2001 to 2005.
A doctor in electronics from Stanford University in the United States, he was Minister of Communications during Mr. Khatami’s first term.
Mr Aref served as the capital Tehran’s representative in parliament for a four-year term in 2016, where he led the reformists’ group.
On Sunday, senior Iranian officials and foreign diplomats attended the installation ceremony, broadcast on state television.
Mr Pezeshkian won the second round of the presidential election against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, with 53.6% of the vote to 44.3%, out of around 30 million votes cast.
Mr Jalili and former moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who had supported his candidacy alongside Iran’s main reformist coalition, attended the ceremony, where Ayatollah Khamenei said “the priority in foreign policy” remains Iran’s neighbours.
ARCHIVE PHOTO COURTESY OF REUTERS
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
“Another priority is the countries that have supported us during the pressures of recent years,” he added, referring to Russia and China.
“European countries have not treated us well in recent years, [notamment en lançant] false accusations such as [violations des] human rights,” Khamenei regretted.
“If they don’t treat us so badly, the Europeans are also one of our priorities,” he added.
” Heavy burden ”
Mr. Pezeshkian thanked the supreme leader and the Iranian people, pledging to shoulder the “heavy burden” of the presidency.
After the event, interim President Mohammad Mokhber handed over the official responsibilities of the presidency to Massoud Pezeshkian.
Called the “doctor” by many Iranians, Mr. Pezeshkian favors “constructive relations” with the United States, Iran’s enemy, and European countries to bring the country out of its “isolation.”
But the president in Iran has limited powers: he is responsible for implementing, at the head of the government, the broad political guidelines set by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, head of state and ultimate decision-maker on strategic issues.
The Iranian elections took place against a backdrop of heightened regional tensions, as the Islamic Republic, a Middle Eastern heavyweight, finds itself at the heart of several geopolitical crises, from the war in Gaza to the nuclear issue, in which it opposes the West.
Mr Pezeshkian has promised to negotiate with Washington to revive talks on Iran’s nuclear program, which have been stalled since the US withdrew in 2018 from an international agreement reached in 2015.
PHOTO ATTA KENARE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Massoud Pezeshkian reacts to the crowd outside a polling station where he cast his vote during the presidential election in Tehran, June 28, 2024.
During the election campaign, he promised to “bring Iran out of its isolation” by establishing “constructive relations” with the world, particularly European countries.
However, no one would have bet on this deputy from Tabriz, when his candidacy was validated with five other candidates, all conservatives, for this presidential election brought forward due to the accidental death of President Raisi.
Massoud Pezeshkian is not, in fact, one of the leading figures of the reformist and moderate camps, which have clearly lost influence in the face of the conservatives in recent years.
A surgeon by profession, he has limited government experience, including a post as health minister from 2001 to 2005 in the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami.
A father, he raised three children alone after the death of his wife and another child in a car accident in 1993 and presents himself as the “voice of the voiceless”.
He promised to work to improve the living conditions of the most disadvantaged.