Massoud Pezeshkian, an Iranian presidential aspirant, distinguished himself as a moderate in an election campaign dominated by hardliners who advanced to the presidential second battle. He advocated for women’s rights, increased social freedoms, cautious detente with the West, and economic reform.
Pezeshkian narrowly surpassed hardliner Saeed Jalili in the first round of voting on Friday. However, since he did not achieve the required majority of 50% plus one vote, the two candidates will face a run-off election on July 5.
Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, lawmaker, and former health minister, faced candidates who closely aligned with the fiercely anti-Western stance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Despite this, the mild-mannered Pezeshkian narrowly won Friday’s vote, advancing to the run-off in the election to choose a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
His chances depend on attracting votes from supporters of current hardline parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who finished third in the first round.
He also needs to mobilize a young, disillusioned population eager for change but frustrated with the country’s political, social, and economic crises to vote for him again in the run-off. Although Pezeshkian advocates for reforms, he remains faithful to Iran’s theocratic rule and has no intention of challenging the powerful security hawks and clerical rulers.
His views contrast sharply with those of Raisi, a Khamenei protege who tightened enforcement of laws restricting women’s dress and adopted a tough stance in now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Pezeshkian’s campaign gained momentum after receiving endorsements from reformists led by former President Mohammad Khatami and appointing former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, a key architect of the nuclear deal, as his foreign policy adviser.
