Reformist Massoud Pezeshkian was sworn in as Iran’s next president on Friday, defeating Saeed Jalili, a protege of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, by 16.3 million votes to 13.5 million in a runoff election.
Pezechkian said, Round 1 He failed to get the 50 percent of the vote needed to win Iran’s fake election on June 28. He and hard-line Mr. Jalili advanced to a runoff on Friday, where he won over former front-runner Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf.
Turnout in the first round was the lowest ever at 39 percent, as many Iranians, disgusted by the regime’s farcical elections, chose to show their disdain by boycotting the polls.
Many opposition leaders and human rights activists urged a boycott as a way to embarrass and delegitimize the theocratic regime. They also pointed out that even if a “moderate” like Pezeshkian won, he would not be able to achieve significant reforms to the regime because absolute power, and control over most of Iran’s wealth, remained in the hands of the ayatollahs and their senior clergy.
Turnout for yesterday’s runoff election rose significantly to 49.8 percent as voters saw an increased chance of Pezeshkian beating the hardline Jalili.
Once he secured victory, Pezechkian immediately pledged loyalty to Ayatollah Khamenei and said he would make only modest reforms, such as reducing the brutality of protesters, reducing restrictions on internet access for Iranians, and forging better relations with the international community except with Israel, with whom he made clear he had no interest in having “friendly relations.”
During the last presidential debate, Pezechkian Shown She expressed some sympathy for the “Women, Life and Freedom” protesters and spoke out against the strict head covering regulations that led to the 2022 murder of a young Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini by Iran’s “morality police.” protest Iran has faced this situation since the Islamists took power in 1979.
In this photo taken by a person not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by The Associated Press outside Iran, Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Martha Amini in custody of morality police in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022. (Middle East Images, File/The Associated Press)
“We are losing support from society because of our actions, high prices, the way we treat girls and internet censorship. People are unhappy with our actions,” he said.
Pezeshkian’s election slogan, “For Iran,” appears to be an allusion to a popular song by Iranian artist Shervin Hajipour, who was jailed for three years for supporting the Amini uprising.
Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) Convened Mr. Pezeshkian’s victory was met with applause, and stock prices rose 3.28% after years of declines. Although none of the Iranian presidential candidates put forward clear economic policies during the short election period, the market appears to be hoping that Mr. Pezeshkian will make some progress toward easing international sanctions against Iran.
Pezechkian may have won by a larger margin than the official tally indicates. Guardian I got it. He said Qalibaf supporters generally seemed unwilling to vote for Jalili due to “big ideological differences” that were preventing the usual concentration of hard-line votes.
Meanwhile, former Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, Pezechkian’s most influential ally and a possible leader of the new government, called on moderate voters to take part in the election and help reformist candidates win.
“Those who did not participate in the first round sent a message in the first period. Now they must complete the message by attending,” Zarif said.
Reformists spread rumors that the administration was frantically stuffing ballot boxes with votes in the final hours of voting on Friday and paying clergy to flock rural voters to polling stations. The final turnout was suspiciously high, given that photos and videos of empty polling stations were flooding social media on Friday.
Whatever last-minute maneuvers the administration pulled off, it wasn’t enough to overturn Pezeshkian’s lead: Word of his victory drew cheering supporters into the streets at 3 a.m., while the votes were still being counted.
It’s past 3 a.m. in Iran, but news of reformist Pezeshkian’s victory has sparked spontaneous street celebrations in various cities.
This view is from Kudasht in western Iran 👇 pic.twitter.com/6C4CRj5QFo
— Sina Toossi (@SinaToossi) July 5, 2024
On Saturday morning, Ayatollah Khamenei congratulated Pezeshkian on his victory, praising the increased voter turnout as a repudiation of the boycott campaign “orchestrated by the enemies of the Iranian people to stomp on feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness.”
“I would like to encourage President-elect Dr. Pezeshkian to trust in the merciful Allah and set his vision on high and bright horizons,” the ayatollah said. Pezeshkian Cardiac surgeon before he entered politics.
Pezechkian replaced President Ebrahim Raisi, who came to power in 2021 after a rigged election that barred any reform-minded candidates from running. killed in a helicopter crash in May.
