Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Reform candidate Masoud Pezeshkian Iran won the second round of Saturday’s presidential election, beating hardliner Saeed Jalili by pledging to get closer to the West and ease the implementation of the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests strained the Republic. Islamic.
Pezeshkian did not promise radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign and has long considered Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian’s modest goals will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely controlled by hardliners, the The current war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Stripand Western fears about Tehran enrich uranium to levels close to weapons grade with a sufficient arsenal to produce several nuclear weapons if it so desired.
A vote recount offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election. Overall, Iran’s Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognized observers, representing a turnout of 49.6%, higher than the the historical low of the first round of June 28 but lower than other presidential races.
Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, took to the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew. Jalili, a former hardline nuclear negotiator. Pezeshkian later traveled to the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and addressed journalists at a chaotic event.
“In this election I did not make false promises to you. “I didn’t lie,” Pezeshkian said. “Many years have passed since the revolution that we stood on the podium, we make promises and we do not keep them. “This is the biggest problem we have.”
Pezeshkian’s victory still leaves Iran in a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Middle East and an imminent election in the United States that could jeopardize any possibility of a détente between Tehran and Washington. Pezeshkian’s victory was also not a defeat for Jalili, meaning he will have to carefully navigate Iran’s domestic politics, as the doctor has never held a sensitive high-level security position.
government officials until Khameni, The supreme leader predicted higher turnout as voting began, and state television broadcast images of modest lines at some voting centers. However, online videos purported to show some empty booths, while a survey of several dozen sites in Tehran found little traffic and a heavy security presence on the streets.
Authorities counted 607,575 annulled votes, which is often a sign of protest from those who feel obligated to vote but reject both candidates.
Khamenei praised Saturday’s turnout despite what he claimed was a boycott campaign “orchestrated by the enemies of the Iranian nation to induce desperation and a feeling of hopelessness.”
“I would like to recommend Dr. Pezeshkian, the president-elect, to put his trust in God, the Compassionate, and set his vision on high and bright horizons,” Khamenei added.
Voters expressed cautious optimism.
“I don’t expect anything from him; I’m happy that the vote put a stop to the hardliners,” said Fatemeh Babaei, a bank employee who voted for Pezeshkian. “I hope that Pezeshkian can restore an administration in which all people can feel that there is a tomorrow.”
Taher Khalili, an Iranian of Kurdish origin who runs a small tailor shop in Tehran, offered another reason for hope as he handed out sweets to passersby.
“In the end, someone from my hometown and from western Iran came to power,” Khalili said. “I hope it improves the economy for small businesses.”
Pezeshkian, who speaks Azeri, Farsi and Kurdish, campaigned to reach Iran’s many ethnicities. He represents the first president from western Iran in decades, something people hope will help the county, as those in the western part are considered more tolerant due to the ethnic and religious diversity of their area.
The elections occurred amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first direct attack against Israel by the war in Gaza, while militia groups armed by Tehran – such as Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels – are involved in the fighting and have intensified their attacks.
While Khamenei remains the final decision-maker in matters of state, Pezeshkian could tilt the country’s foreign policy toward confrontation or collaboration with the West.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which has reached a detente with Iran, sent his congratulations to Pezeshkian and highlighted his “interest in developing and deepening the relations that unite our two countries and peoples.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has relied on Iranian-made drones in his war against Ukraine, similarly congratulated Pezeshkian.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, the State Department called the Iranian elections “neither free nor fair” and noted that “a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all.”
“We have no expectation that these elections will lead to a fundamental change in the direction of Iran or greater respect for the human rights of its citizens,” the State Department added. “As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.”
However, he said he would resort to diplomacy “when it promotes American interests.”
The candidates repeatedly addressed what would happen if former President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election. Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden’s administration, although there has been no clear move toward limiting Tehran’s nuclear program to lifting economic sanctions.
Pezeshkian’s victory caused the Iranian rial to strengthen against the US dollar on Saturday, trading at 603,000 to the dollar, up from 615,000 on Thursday. The rial was trading at 32,000 to the dollar at the time the 2015 nuclear deal was reached.
Although he identified with reformists and relative moderates within the Iranian theocracy during the campaign, Pezeshkian at the same time honored Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on one occasion wearing its uniform in parliament. He repeatedly criticized the United States and praised the Guard for shooting down a U.S. drone in 2019, saying he “delivered a big punch in the mouth to Americans and showed them that our country will not give up.”
The late president Ebrahim Raisi, whose death in a helicopter crash in May led to early elections, was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.
Still, he was known to many for his involvement in the mass executions Iran carried out in 1988 and for his role in the bloody crackdown on dissent that followed the 2022 death protests. Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by the police for the allegedly inappropriate use of the mandatory veil or hijab.
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Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran. Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.
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