Nobody had guess on the MP from Tabriz when his candidacy for the Iranian presidency was accepted by the Guards Council together with the nominations of 4 different, all conservative, candidates.
However reformist Massoud Pezheskian obtained the assist of former presidents Mohammad Khatami (reformer) and Hassan Rouhani (average), in addition to former international minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was at his facet right this moment when Iran's president-elect delivered a thank-you speech speech to his supporters.
“The street forward of us is tough. It is not going to develop into straightforward besides along with your cooperation, empathy and belief. I prolong my hand to you,” the 69-year-old coronary heart surgeon beforehand wrote to X.
Learn extra: Iran: The reformer Masoud Pezeskian is the brand new president
“Your votes have given hope again to a society immersed in an environment of discontent,” he later mentioned on the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini, the founding father of the Islamic Republic, close to Tehran. “I didn’t make false guarantees on this election. I didn't say something I can't stand by.”
Residents interviewed by AFP mentioned they have been glad for Massoud Pezeskian's victory, others mentioned they didn’t consider there could be change.
“We’re more than happy that Mr. Pezeskian received. We want an informed president to unravel the financial issues,” mentioned a 40-year-old architect.
“None of my buisiness. These candidates are solely throwing slogans. Once they take energy, they do nothing for the individuals,” mentioned a 50-year-old housewife.
Many Iranians name Masoud Pezeskian a “physician”, who advocates constructive relations with the US and European international locations “to get the nation out of its isolation”.
However Iran's president has restricted powers: he’s tasked with implementing, as head of presidency, the broad political instructions set by the supreme chief, Ayatollah Khamenei, head of state, who has the ultimate say on strategic issues. .
In his congratulatory message, Ayatollah Khamenei suggested the newly elected president “to make use of the nation's a number of talents, particularly the skills of the younger revolutionaries, for its progress.”
In keeping with Ali Vaez of the Worldwide Disaster Group, Massoud Pezeskian's victory “breaks a collection of electoral contests that strengthened the dominance of the conservative camp in all facilities of energy.”
Nevertheless, “the dominance of conservatives nonetheless exists in all state establishments,” he wrote in X. “And the boundaries of presidential energy imply that Mr. Pezeskian must battle an uphill battle to ensure social and cultural rights which are extra essential within the home subject and a diplomatic exercise overseas”.
Massoud Pezeskian is a single father who raised his three kids after the loss of life of his spouse and one other baby in a automobile accident in 1993. He presents himself as “the voice of the unvoiced”.
The president-elect is anticipated to handle the difficulty of constructing the Islamic headband obligatory for Iranian ladies, one of many causes of an unprecedented wave of protests on the finish of 2022. He has pledged to barter with Washington to renew talks on Iran's nuclear program, that are to zero after Washington beneath Trump pulled out of the 2015 worldwide accord.
Supply: RES-MPE
