Massoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon who wants to revive the nuclear deal with the West, has been elected Iran’s president in early elections that highlighted the major challenges facing the country’s clerical leadership.
In the runoff election, which saw slightly more voters turn out than in last week’s first round, Pezeshkian defeated hardline Islamist Said Djalili, 58, by about 3 million votes, according to sources.
Pezeshkian, who served as health minister under former reformist President Mohammed Khatami, takes up his post at a complex and difficult time for Iran both domestically and internationally.
The Islamic Republic has been facing a major crisis of legitimacy for several years, with frequent protests that directly challenge the religious establishment and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The conflict between Iran and Israel has also reached dangerous levels in recent months. The two countries exchanged direct attacks in April, nearly bringing them to war. Tensions in the region remain very high as Israel continues its war against the Iranian-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and becomes further embroiled in a conflict with Hezbollah, which is strongly backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He also faces the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House after the US presidential election in November. Trump’s foreign policy during his term in office from 2017 to 2021 was characterised by a hostile “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran that destabilised the Persian Gulf, upset oil markets and came close to sparking an outright war.
It was President Trump who withdrew from the nuclear deal agreed to by his predecessor, President Barack Obama.
Turnout in the general election, which was triggered by the death of cleric Ebrahim Raisi in May, was the lowest ever for an Iranian presidential election, highlighting the disintegration and distrust facing Khamenei’s political system.
Pezechkian’s appointment would mark a major departure from his predecessor, Raisi, the first non-cleric to be elected president since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his nearly clean-shaven face and forthright style underscore his distance from a clerical elite that has faced unprecedented levels of opposition in recent years.
He is seen as modern-minded and highly educated, but also deeply religious: He often uses business English in television debates, but balances it with recitations from the Quran, which has helped him win over more conservative voters.
During his campaign, Pezeshkian pledged to tackle high inflation, seek sanctions relief and revive Iran’s collapsed nuclear deal with world powers. He surrounded himself with moderates and reformers from former President Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policy team, including former Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif.
But his term as president could be tough: Iran’s parliament is dominated by hard-line factions who have blocked previous efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and have staunchly opposed attempts to revise banking law to comply with Financial Action Task Force standards.
Pezeshkian is also expected to address fierce opposition to strict laws on women’s dress and harsh treatment of women by security forces — something his reformist and moderate predecessors largely failed to accomplish because much of Iran’s policy is ultimately decided by unelected institutions like the judiciary and Khamenei himself.
