Reformer Massoud Pezeshkian wins Iranian presidential election

“We will extend the hand of friendship to everyone,” the new president promised on Saturday, after calling for the reestablishment of “constructive relations” with the West during his campaign.

He is a supporter of a more open Iran towards the West. The reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian won the second round of the Iranian presidential election on Saturday, July 6, against the ultraconservative Said Jalili. In the vote held on Friday, this 69-year-old deputy collected more than 16 million votes, against more than 13 million for his opponent, according to almost final results communicated by the electoral authorities.

“We will extend the hand of friendship to everyone, we are all people of this country, we should use everyone for the progress of the country”Massoud Pezeshkian said Saturday in his first speech as president-elect, thanking his supporters.

The election, hastily organized after the death of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May, was held in a context of popular discontent, particularly over the state of the economy, hit by international sanctions.

No one would have initially bet on this deputy from Tabriz, the large city in northwestern Iran, when his candidacy was accepted by the Guardian Council along with five other candidates, all conservatives. Massoud Pezeshkian, however, received the support of two former presidents, the reformist Mohammad Khatami and the moderate Hassan Rouhani.

The father, who raised three children alone after his wife and another child died in a car accident in 1993, presents himself as the “voice of the voiceless” and promised to work to improve the living conditions of the most disadvantaged. A surgeon by profession and former health minister, the man Iranians call “the doctor” cultivated an image of humility during his campaign.

While affirming his loyalty to the Islamic Republic, he calls for “constructive relationships” with Washington and European countries, in order to “bringing Iran out of its isolation”He promised to negotiate directly with the United States to revive talks on the Iranian nuclear program, which have been stalled since the American withdrawal in 2018, in order to obtain a lifting of the economic sanctions weighing on Iran.

Massoud Pezeshkian also denounced the use of force by the police to enforce the obligation for women to wear the veil, one of the causes of the vast protest movement that shook the country at the end of 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested for not respecting the strict dress code. “We oppose any violent and inhumane behavior (…) especially towards our sisters and daughters, and we will not allow such acts to happen” he said in particular.

The reformer had come out on top in the first round a week earlier with 42.4%, compared to 38.6% for Saïd Jalili, who had received the support of the conservative candidate who came in third place.

While abstention had reached a record in the first round, participation in the second round was 49.8%, up nearly 10 points. Opposition figures in Iran and in the diaspora had called for a boycott of the vote, judging that the conservative and reformist camps represent two sides of the same coin.

The election of Massoud Pezeshkian is expected to have limited repercussions, as the Iranian president has only limited powers. He is responsible for implementing, as head of government, the broad policies set by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the head of state.

The first foreign leader to send his congratulations to Massoud Pezeshkian, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped “a reinforcement” relations between the two countries “for the good of our friendly peoples”. Countries allied and heavily sanctioned by the West, Russia and Iran “coordinate their efforts effectively to address current international issues”he argued.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has followed suit, with Beijing being Tehran’s largest trading partner and a major buyer of its sanctioned oil. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a deepening of “warm and long-standing bilateral relations” with Iran.