Pezeshkian goals to enhance relations with the West and ease the headband legislation. (File)

Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian received Iran’s presidential runoff election on Saturday, defeating hardliner Saeed Jalili by a margin of round 2.8 million votes.

The 69-year-old president-elect goals to enhance relations with the West and ease the necessary headband legislation. Whereas Pezeshkian respects Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s authority and seeks no main adjustments to Iran’s authorities, he faces important challenges – opposition from hardliners, the Israel-Hamas battle, and Western issues about Iran’s nuclear program. 

Listed here are some info about Masoud Pezeshkian:

1. Masoud Pezeshkian was born on September 29, 1954, in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan, to an Azeri father and a Kurdish mom. He speaks Azeri and focuses on the affairs of Iran’s minority ethnic teams. Mr Pezeshkian misplaced his spouse Fatemeh Majidi and one in all his daughters in a automobile accident in 1994. He selected to not remarry and raised his two different sons and daughter alone.

2. He’s a coronary heart surgeon and has served as the pinnacle of the Tabriz College of Medical Sciences. He grew to become a combatant and doctor throughout the Iran-Iraq Battle (1980-1988), dispatching medical groups to the entrance traces.

3. Masoud Pezeshkian served because the Minister of Well being, Remedy, and Medical Schooling underneath President Mohammad Khatami’s administration. He has been a member of the Iranian Parliament, representing Tabriz, Azarshahr, and Osku throughout a number of phrases (eighth to twelfth). He served as the primary Deputy Speaker from 2016 to 2020.

4. The 69-year-old had registered for presidential elections in 2011 and 2021. He withdrew in 2011 and was disqualified in 2021. Within the 2024 presidential run, Pezeshkian campaigned with the slogan “For Iran,” aiming to distinction his insurance policies with these of his opponent Saeed Jalili.

5. Masoud Pezeshkian has been concerned in a number of controversies. He attended the post-mortem of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in 2003, who was detained, tortured, and died in custody. He cited intracranial hemorrhaging as the reason for demise however claimed there have been no indicators of bruising or cuts, contradicting worldwide outcry and calls for for an investigation.

In 2017, Pezeshkian admitted to being among the many first to ban girls not sporting hijab from getting into universities and hospitals in 1978, even earlier than the necessary hijab coverage was formally launched. In 2022, after Mahsa Amini’s demise, he mentioned it was “unacceptable within the Islamic Republic” to arrest a lady for not sporting a hijab after which return her lifeless physique to her household.