Iran invokes reform & change to elect Masoud Pezeshkian

Reformist Pezeshkian wins run-off poll in Iran

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, July 6: Iran has decisively voted for change by electing reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian in the presidential election. The Iranian media reported that Pezeshkian has been declared elected in the run-off poll early Saturday morning.

Celebrations swept through Iranian cities as early as 3 AM local time even while the officials delayed the official announcement of the verdict. The people drove to the streets and raised slogans.

Pezeshkian defeated his hardliner rival Saeed Jalili in the run-off poll. Earlier, there was no winner in the presidential election, which necessitated a run-off poll.

Pezeshkian will succeed the former elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. He was killed in a helicopter crash in border areas with neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Also Read: ‘The Fall of Kabul’ spotlights chaotic Afghanistan 

“Masoud Pezeshkian emerges victorious in Iran’s presidential run-off,” reported TRT World on Saturday morning.

The Turkey-based media outlet stated that Pezeshkian has pledged to open Iran to the world. It also stressed that Pezeshkian promised freedoms to the people of Iran.

“Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday,” reported Associated Press. It spotlighted promise of Pezeshkian to “ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic”.

The death of Mehsa Amini, a college-going girl, after she sustained grievous injuries during her arrest for allegedly not wearing headscarf properly had unleashed nationwide protests in Iran.

Also Read: Labour victory in UK rings alarm bells in India

While Raisi had somewhat relaxed the stringent punishment norms for not wearing headscarf properly, the moral police in Iran was widely ridiculed by the people. Also, Raisi had nearly brought Iran to a war with Israel by ordering missile attacks against Tel Aviv.

The AP in its report stated that “Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy”. The victorious leader holds Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in high esteem.

Khamenei is the final arbiter of all matters of Iran, and he also receives the heads of the likes of Hezbollah.

While Iranians are celebrating the victory of Pezeshkian, Tehran-based observers stress that it will be premature to write obituaries to the hardliners in the country. They assert that the Iranian government is packed with hardliners for the new president to bring radical changes.

The AP reported that Pezeshkian bagged a total of 16.3 million votes against Jalili’s 13.5 million. The run-off poll was held yesterday.

Join WhatsApp channel of The Raisina Hills

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save

About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

See author's posts