Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran's presidential election
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran's presidential election, Iranian state news agency Press TV reported. The results, announced on Saturday, showed that Pezeshkian secured over 16.3 million votes out of the 30.5 million counted from Friday's runoff, surpassing his ultraconservative opponent Saeed Jalili, who garnered more than 13.5 million votes. The snap election was held after President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials were killed in a helicopter crash in May in Iran's rural northwest.
Pezeshkian's victory amidst Iran's political and economic challenges
Pezeshkian, the only reformist candidate in the race, will now assume leadership in a nation that is grappling with rising international isolation, domestic unrest, a spiraling economy, and potential conflict with Israel. Although the president is granted certain powers in Iran, the ultimate authority rests with the Supreme Leader, who has last decision on all affairs of state.
Who is Pezeshkian
Pezeshkian is a trained heart surgeon and lawmaker who served as health minister under reformist president Mohammad Khatami. He rose to prominence for his opposition to the crackdown on the 2009 pro-democracy protests and the violence perpetrated by the morality police in 2022, following Mahsa Amini's death. Amini died in custody after being jailed for failing to follow the Islamic Republic's strict dress code. "It is our fault. We want to implement religious faith through...force," Pezeshkian had said.
Pezeshkian ran for president in the 2013 and 2021 elections
In the run-up to the election, he presented himself as a candidate for all Iranians. "Among my supporters are both left and right, even those who do not pray," he said at a presidential debate. He became heavily involved in politics after the deaths of his wife and child in a 1994 car crash. He ran for president in 2013 and 2021, but was unsuccessful. Pezeshkian comes from an ethnically mixed family; his father is Azeri, and his mother Kurdish.
