Massoud Pezeshkian, a low-profile moderate who vowed to open Iran to the world and give its people the freedoms they crave, has won Iran's presidential runoff election, the Interior Ministry announced Saturday.
“Pezezhkian became Iran's next president after winning a majority in Friday's vote,” the report said.
Turnout was around 50 percent in a close race between Pezeshkian, the only moderate of the four original candidates, and Saeed Djalili, a hardline former nuclear negotiator who strongly advocates closer ties with Russia and China.
Friday's runoff election came after a historically low turnout, with more than 60 percent of Iranian voters abstaining from voting in the June 28 election to choose a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash.
Videos posted on social media showed Pezeshkian's supporters dancing in the streets in many cities and towns across the country, and drivers honking their horns to celebrate his victory.
Witnesses said people were handing out sweets in the streets of Pezeshkian's hometown in the northwestern city of Urmia.
The election is expected to have a small impact on Iranian policy, but the president will be heavily involved in choosing a successor to Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who controls all important national affairs.
Voter turnout has plummeted over the past four years, which critics say highlights waning support for clerical rule amid growing public frustration over economic hardship and restrictions on political and social freedoms.
Only 48% of voters took part in the 2021 general elections that brought Raisi to power, and turnout in March's parliamentary elections was 41%.
The election coincides with a period of rising tensions in the Middle East due to Israel's war with Iran's allies Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as growing Western pressure over Iran's burgeoning uranium enrichment program.
The next president is not expected to bring about any major policy shifts on the nuclear program or changes in support for militias across the Middle East, but he will be able to run the day-to-day running of the government and influence the direction of Iran's foreign and domestic policies.
Loyal Rival
Analysts said a victory for Pezeshkian could promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over currently stalled negotiations with major powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and improve prospects for social liberalization and political pluralism.
But Pezeshkian, a former health minister, has publicly said he has no intention of confronting Iran's power elite of clerics and hard-line security forces, leaving many voters skeptical he can deliver on his election promises.
“I didn't vote last week, but today I voted for Pezeshkian. I know he will be a lame duck president, but he is still better than a hardliner,” said Afarin, 37, who runs a beauty salon in the central city of Isfahan province.
Many Iranians have bitter memories of responding to the nationwide unrest sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman, in 2022. The unrest was put down by a violent state crackdown that included mass detentions and executions.
“I will not vote. This is a firm opposition to the Islamic Republic because of Mahsa (Amini). I want a free country, a free life,” said Sepideh, 19, a university student in Tehran.
The hashtag #ElectionCircus has been widely posted on social media platform X since last week, with some activists both at home and abroad calling for a boycott of the election, arguing that a high turnout would vindicate the Islamic Republic.
Both candidates have vowed to revive a struggling economy that has been plagued by mismanagement, state corruption and reimposed sanctions since 2018 after the United States, under then-President Donald Trump, abandoned the nuclear deal.
“I will vote for Jalili. He believes in Islamic values. He has promised to end our economic difficulties,” said Mahmoud Hamidzadegan, 64, a retired office worker in the northern city of Sari.
