– Photo: ANI
The results of the presidential election in Iran have been announced. According to the results, reformist Masoud Pezeshkian has won, defeating hardline leader Saeed Jalili. During his election campaign, Pezeshkian had promised not to make any radical changes in Iran’s Shia theocracy and believed that the final arbitrator in all matters of the country would be the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, Pezeshkian’s path is not going to be easy at all and he may have to struggle a lot to overcome the challenge of hardline leaders in the government for reformist steps.
No candidate got majority in the first phase of elections
The second round of voting for the presidential election was held in Iran on July 5, in which about three crore people participated. In the results, Pezeshkian defeated Saeed Jalili by more than 30 lakh votes. According to Iranian media, Pezeshkian got 1.64 crore votes in the election, while Jalili got 1.36 crore votes. Masoud Pezeshkian is the ninth president of Iran. President Ibrahim Raisi of Iran died in a helicopter accident on May 19.
After this, elections were held for the post of President in Iran. In the first round of voting held on 28 May, no candidate got majority. After this, the second round of elections was held between Pezeshkian who got about 42 percent votes and Saeed Jalili who got 38 percent votes. According to the constitution of Iran, if no candidate gets majority in the first round of elections, then the second round of elections is held between the top two candidates.
Who is Masoud Pezeshkian
Masoud Pezeshkian, born on 29 September 1954, is a doctor by profession and has been the head of Iran’s Tabriz Medical University. Masoud Pezeshkian’s wife and daughter died in a car accident in 1994. Pezeshkian has also been Iran’s Health Minister in 1997. Masoud Pezeshkian had filed nomination for Iran’s presidential election for the first time in 2011, but later withdrew his candidacy. Pezeshkian is known as a liberal leader and is considered close to former President Hassan Rouhani. Pezeshkian is considered an opponent of the strict law of hijab.
Masoud Pezeshkian is in favor of establishing contact with Western countries and he is in favor of making Iran a member of the Financial Action Task Force. Iran has been blacklisted in FATF since 2019. Due to this, the IMF and other global financial institutions do not help Iran financially.