“We make promises and we don’t deliver. That’s our biggest problem,” Pesheshkian said in his first speech as Iran’s new president.
advertisementIran’s new President Masoud Pezekian has given his first speech since winning Sunday’s runoff election.
“I have not made any false promises to you in this election. I have not lied,” Pezeshkian said. “After so many years since the revolution, we stand on the podium and make promises and then we fail to deliver. That is our biggest problem.”
Pezeshkian defeated hardliner Said Jalili by reaching out to the West and promising to ease enforcement of the country’s mandatory hijab law after years of sanctions and protests weighing on the Islamic republic.
He promised during his campaign that there would be no radical change to Iran’s Shiite theocracy, and has long regarded Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all national affairs.
But even Pezeshkin’s modest goals will be challenged by an Iranian government heavily reliant on hardliners, the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western concerns that Tehran has amassed enough stockpile to produce several nuclear weapons and has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels.
According to official voter figures, Pezeshkian won 16.3 million votes in Friday’s election to Jalili’s 13.5 million. Overall, Iran’s Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in the election, which was held without internationally recognized monitors, and the turnout was 49.6%, higher than the record low in the first round of voting on June 28, but lower than in other presidential elections.
Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, took to the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate his victory over hard-line former nuclear negotiator Jalili. Pezeshkian later traveled to the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and spoke to reporters during a chaotic ceremony.
Pezeshkian’s victory shows that Iran is still in a delicate position, with tensions rising in the Middle East and elections looming in the United States that could jeopardize any chance of reconciliation between Tehran and Washington. Pezeshkian’s victory was not Jalili’s crushing defeat, so he will have to navigate Iran’s internal politics carefully, as the doctor has never held a sensitive high-level security position.
Government officials, including Supreme Leader Khamenei, predicted high turnout as voting began, and state television showed people lining up at some polling stations. But online footage showed some of the polling stations empty, while dozens of sites in Tehran showed light traffic and tight security on the streets.
Authorities counted 607,575 invalid votes, often protests from people who felt obliged to cast ballots but rejected both candidates.
Khamenei praised the turnout on Saturday, which he said was a boycott campaign orchestrated by “enemies of the Iranian people to create despair and a sense of hopelessness.”
“I would like to urge the elected President, Dr. Fezeshkian, to trust in the merciful God and set his vision on high and bright horizons,” Khamenei added.
Voters expressed cautious optimism.
“I don’t expect anything from him. I’m just happy that the vote put the brakes on the hardliners,” said Fatemeh Babaei, a bank employee who voted for Pezeshkian. “I hope Pezeshkian can turn the administration around in a way that makes everyone feel like there’s a tomorrow.”
