(VOVWORLD) - Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, won Friday's run-off presidential vote against former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
 Iranian presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian waves at the crowd during the run-off presidential election between him and Saeed Jalili, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024. (Photo: Reuters) |
He will replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, has pledged to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact.
“A difficult road is ahead. It can only be smooth with your cooperation, empathy and trust," he said in a post on social media platform X.
After the voting result is confirmed by an election watchdog body and approved by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Pezeshkian will take the oath of office before parliament in Tehran in the coming days.
The election coincided with escalating regional tension due to the conflicts between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear program.