Wall against conservatives in Iran. reformist deputy and former Minister of Health, Massoud Pezeshkian, won the ballot of the 14th grade elezioni prezidenziali and will become the ninth leader of the Islamic Republic. The headquarters of the Iranian state elections, in fact, announces that Pezeshkian obtained 16,3 million votes against 13,5 of his ultra-conservative rival Saeed Jalili, expressed in a total of approximately 58 thousand seats in Iran and 314 seats in over 100 foreign countries: a gap between the two of over 2 million preferences to the detriment of the intransigent candidate. As for theaffluence, approximately 30,5 million voters participated in the second presidential round (equal to 49,8%) of the 61,4 eligible people, add the Iranian authorities: a figure in slight increase compared to the first round when the lowest participation ever was recorded (33% in Tehran, less than 40% in the entire country).
Iran, the geopolitical weight between Gaza, nuclear node and US vote
The definitive results, however, are expected today. Meanwhile, supporters of the heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker already took to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator. This is a victory that comes while Iran, one of the heavyweights in the Middle East, is still experiencing a particularly delicate moment: on the one hand, the high tensions caused by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, on the other hand, the advance of the Iranian nuclear program and the upcoming American elections stand out which could put an end to any possibility of détente between Tehran and Washington.
Iran, how will Pezeshkian behave?
Pezeshkian calls for an Iran more open to the West. Jalili, on the other hand, is known for his inflexible positions against Western powers. Pezeshkian, 69, has received support from former presidents, the reformist Mohammad Khatami and the moderate Hassan Rouhani. His rival, 58 years old, particularly enjoys the support of Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the conservative president of Parliament, came third with 13,8% of the votes in the first round.
The elections, hastily organized after the death of the ultra-conservative president Ebrahim Raisi which occurred in a helicopter crash on May 19, took place in a context of popular discontent, in particular with the economic situation affected by international sanctions.
Iran, Pezeshkian's first words after the ballot
Reformist President Pezeshkian said that “he will extend the hand of friendship to everyone” in his first speech since being declared the winner of the run-off against the intransigent Jalili. “We will extend the hand of friendship to everyone; we are all people of this country,” Pezeshkian said on state television.
Pezeshkian, who is the new president of Iran
Doctor of Azerbaijani origin, almost unknown before his candidacy, Pezeshkian has grown three children alone after the death of his wife in an accident. A member of parliament for two decades, he has expressed himself openly against the government's lack of transparency during the protests at a national level triggered by death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini in September 2022.
He was an expert cardiac surgeon Minister of Health under the former reformist president Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). Furthermore, he was explicit in the criticize the government on the issue ofcompulsory hijab, but never got around to asking the repeal of the veil requirement for women. However, the fact that the issue of the hijab was at the center of the electoral campaign is nevertheless a sign of the growing weight of the women's revolt.
The new president is a supporter of the agreement on Iranian nuclear program (JCPOA) and promised to improve relations with the United States, accusing his conservative rivals of having ruined the economy by not doing enough to revive the JCPOA, from which Trump's US withdrew unilaterally in 2018, but which had led to the lifting of some sanctions. As for support, in addition to Khatami (who had abstained in the March parliamentary elections), the reformist also had the support of former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. While condemning the administration of the late President Ebrahim Raisi as incapable of solving the country's problems, he never went so far as to openly criticize the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. He also supported i fundamental principles of the regime, according to which the United States is the main cause of tensions in the region.
photo credit: By Mehr News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
