Who is Iran’s Newly Elected President Masoud Pezeshkian?

Masoud Pezeshkian was elected the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the run-off elections on July 5.

Reformist politician Pezeshkian secured 16,384,403 of more than 30 million votes counted, followed by hardline candidate Saeed Jalili who received 13,538,179 votes, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The run-off vote was held on July 5, after no candidate secured a majority in the first round of the election on June 28. The reported turnout of 49.8% in the run-off is an improvement over 40% in the first round, which was the lowest in a presidential election in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic, as many Iranians had called for boycotting the election.

The snap presidential election followed the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19, in which seven other officials including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died.

Pezeshkian, 69, is known as a moderate reformist who is deeply loyal to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and at the same time, he was backed by major reformist groups and endorsed by former reformist and moderate presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani.

Pezeshkian served as the first deputy speaker of Iran's parliament from May 2016 to May 2020. He joined the cabinet of former reformist President Khatami as Iran's health minister in 2001, a post he held until 2005.

As an ethnic Azerbaijani who was born in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province, the new president never hid his origin and favored respect for the cultural rights of Azerbaijanis. He has been a member of the parliament representing the city of Tabriz since 2008, and has served as deputy speaker, among other positions in the past 16 years. Pezeshkian has been described as influential in Iran's Azerbaijani-speaking provinces.

In June 2009, Pezeshkian spoke publicly against a government crackdown on protests against the results of the presidential election and the re-election of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In November 2012, he was one of 76 members of the parliament, who were signatories of a motion to question Ahmadinejad on allegations of his involvement in financial corruption. Pezeshkian applied to run in the 2021 presidential election but was not allowed.

On July 7, Acting President Mohammad Mokhber briefed President-elect Pezeshkian on the ongoing matters of the country in a meeting at Pezeshkian's office and congratulated him for the victory.

Following the vote, on July 6, Pezeshkian issued a statement, calling on the Iranian people for national solidarity, unity and pledging to listen to those who did not vote.

He also noted that he wanted to lift the "shadow of sanctions, threats and war" from Iran and work towards sustainable peace in the region and called for "a constructive engagement with the world".

Pezeshkian also thanked Supreme Leader Khamenei for his support in creating the grounds for "competitive" elections.

On the same day, Khamenei received the newly elected president at his residence, and congratulated him on his victory, and expressed hope that Pezeshkian would "mobilize national capacities" for the progress and development of the country.