Tehran: In a significant development, reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian on Iran's run-off presidential elections on Saturday, defeating hardliner candidate Saeed Jalili by promising warmer relations with the West. A final vote count declared Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes while Jalili got 13.5 million votes.
"By gaining majority of the votes cast on Friday, Pezeshkian has become Iran's next president," said Iran's interior ministry on Saturday. Pezeshkian was the sole moderate candidate in the original field of four candidates and was pitted against Jalili, a staunch advocate of deepening ties with Russia and China, in the run-off elections.
Videos on social media showed supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, dancing in streets in many cities and towns across the country and motorists honking car horns to cheer his victory. People in the northwestern city of Urmia, Pezeshkian's hometown, were handing sweets out on the streets, according to witnesses.
What has Pezeshkian promised?
The low-profile Pezeshkian has promised no major changes to Iran's theocracy, but he has been an advocate of warmer relations with the West, economic reform, social liberalisation and political pluralism. The elections and Pezeshkian's victory are expected to have a limited impact on Iran's policies, as all crucial state affairs are handled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
However, the President can bend the country's policies toward confrontation or negotiation with the West and set the tone of domestic and foreign policy. However, Pezeshkian's modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.
Regional tensions involving Tehran
However, Pezeshkian's win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Iran's advancing nuclear program, and a looming US election that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.
A triumph by Pezeshkian might promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism, analysts said. However, many voters are sceptical about Pezeshkian's ability to fulfil his campaign promises as he remains faithful to Iran's theocratic rule.
Friday's election marks only Iran's second presidential runoff since 1979. The first came in 2005, when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bested former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Under Ahmadinejad, Iran faced international sanctions over its advancing nuclear program, as well as the 2009 Green Movement protests and the crackdown that smashed them.
Iran's flailing problems
The election comes at a time of escalating regional tension due to the war between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear programme. Under Raisi's tenure, Iran's tensions with the West soared due to his uncompromising stance on the nuclear doctrine and domestic troubles.
Both Pezeshkian and Jalili had vowed to revive the declining economy under Western sanctions, corruption and mismanagement. The candidates also faced voter apathy due to restrictions on social and political freedom, with painful memories of a violent state crackdown on the nationwide unrest in 2022 sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
The first round of voting on June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Government officials up to Khamenei predicted a higher participation rate as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centres across the country. That was in stark contrast to videos of empty polls and light traffic.
(with inputs from agencies)
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