The victory of reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian in Iran’s presidential election signals a change from the government of Ebrahim Raisi, a conservative Shiite Muslim cleric and previous president. was killed in a helicopter crash in May..
Mr Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon, has served as a lawmaker in previous reformist governments and as health minister, defeat the hardline conservative candidate The government announced on Saturday that Saeed Jalili would win a runoff election on Friday.
Here are the most important takeaways from the election.
A clear choice drove higher voter turnout
The second round of voting presented a political choice powerful enough to galvanize Iranians who had boycotted the first round. Turnout in the first round was around 40 percent, continuing a downward trend in recent parliamentary elections. Faced with candidates who represented radically different visions of Iran’s future, many voters who had stayed away from the first round decided to vote in the second round.
When voting ended on Friday, voter turnout had increased by nearly 10 percent, to 49.8 percent. according to state mediaMr. Pezeshkian’s campaign slogan, “save Iran,” seemed to resonate with those who wanted change, albeit incremental change in a limited political and social environment.
The Iranian government also led a public campaign to motivate voters.
While the supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, maintains ultimate control over Iran, elections provide a veneer of legitimacy to the country’s authoritarian theocracy.
The return of the reform program
Mr Pezeshkian’s victory marks the return of a relatively moderate reform agenda in Iran after years of being sidelined.
He opposed laws requiring women to wear headscarves, promised to disband Iran’s morality police and lift internet restrictions. He said he wanted peaceful relations with the West.
But in trying to convince Iranians to vote for him, Mr. Pezeshkian, who served 16 years in parliament and four years as health minister, faced frustration from voters who saw little change under two previous presidents who made some promises.
Mohammad Khatami, a reformist, and Hassan Rouhani, a centrist, won their elections by landslides, but in government they are constrained by Mr Khamenei’s supreme power.
Will anything change in Iran?
Mr Pezeshkian said he wanted to bridge the gap between conservative and moderate voters, and that he would be able to set the domestic policy agenda as well as influence the shaping of foreign policy.
But the country remains a theocracy led by an appointed cleric, Mr Khamenei, who has the final say on most important matters of state.
But analysts say the president could change his tone domestically. Mr Pezeshkian is expected to steer Iran away from hardline policies such as mandatory headscarves, which have led to widespread discontent, An uprising And harsh repression by agencies under Mr. Raisi’s authority.
He is also expected to negotiate with the United States to resolve the nuclear standoff and try to lift related sanctions.
Mr Pezeshkian’s candidacy is backed by a group of seasoned technocrats, and his cabinet is likely to reflect that. He has pledged to work with his rivals to address some of Iran’s more intractable problems, including a weak economy by years of harsh international sanctions.
In 2018, former President Donald J. Trump unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal between Iran and the West, although international inspectors say Iran has complied with the terms.
One of his main tasks is to tackle inflation, which has caused prices of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat to rise sharply.
But to revive the economy, Mr Pezeshkian will have to work to reach a deal with the United States to lift sanctions on the country’s oil revenues and banking transactions. Despite US efforts, Iran is not isolated internationally and has built strong ties with Russia, China and India. But sanctions are hampering the country’s economic growth and trade.
Can Iran improve relations with the West?
Framing foreign policy as an economic issue, Mr. Pezeshkian has said he is open to negotiating with Western powers, particularly the United States, to lift sanctions on Iran. He has also expressed a desire to resume nuclear talks — which are tied to sanctions — and to generally ease tensions.
“Anyone who cuts off relations with the world will be held back. Why should we fight with the whole world?” Mr. Pezeshkian told Iranian media during the campaign.
That is in stark contrast to his opponent, Mr. Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who opposed Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers for offering too many concessions. During his presidential campaign, he also rejected any reconciliation with the West, instead seeking closer ties with Russia and China.
Under Mr. Raisi, the former president, Iran continued to develop its missile arsenal, and its nuclear program continued to advance, reaching the status of a nuclear threshold state, with a one-week breakout time to build a simple nuclear bomb, experts say. The country also became an increasingly powerful but unpredictable player in the Middle East crisis.
Iran funds, arms and trains a network of militant groups in the Middle East, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as militant groups in Iraq and Syria. This network, known in the region as the “axis of resistance,” has helped advance Iran’s strategic interests by increasing its influence and acting as a front-line defense.
When it comes to Iran’s hostility toward Israel, it is a matter of state policy set at the highest level, which the incoming president is unlikely to change.
