Masoud Pezeshkian: The reformist now Iran’s president-elect

Wildcard candidate Masoud Pezeshkian will become Iran’s first reformist president in almost two decades, after he defeated hardliner Saeed Jalili in a run-off election on Friday.

The 69-year-old former heart surgeon and health minister campaigned on promises to moderate Iran’s conservative outlook and improve relations with the West. He criticised the country’s notorious morality police and called for negotiations over a renewal of the faltering 2015 nuclear deal.

But analysts remain sceptical about his ability to enact meaningful change within an establishment dominated by ultraconservatives.

When Mr Pezeshkian’s name was confirmed on the ballot four weeks ago, following the death of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, even his most loyal supporters were shocked that he had made it past the Guardian Council.

The powerful body of clerics and jurists which vets candidates’ religious and revolutionary credentials had barred many prominent reformists and moderates from standing in recent elections, including Mr Pezeshkian himself for the last presidential poll in 2021.

But once his candidacy was approved this time, Mr Pezeshkian carefully balanced promises of change with declarations of loyalty to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority in the country.

In a celebratory speech, he praised the “guidance” of Ayatollah Khamenei, saying he would not have been able to succeed without him.

With Iran facing a struggling economy, a shadow-war with Israel that burst into the open earlier this year, and continuing discontent over the violent crackdown on the women-led protests that erupted in 2022, the fact that Mr Pezeshkian was even allowed to stand could be a sign that the Supreme Leader wishes to soften the government’s stance on certain issues.