Reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian won more than 53% of the vote in Iran's runoff election on Friday, winning a four-year term as the first reformist president since 2005. Photo courtesy of EPA-EFE
July 6 (UPI) — Reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian unexpectedly won Iran's presidential election on Friday, winning 16.3 million votes in the runoff election.
“We extend the hand of friendship to everyone,” Pezechkian said in his victory speech. “We are all citizens of this country and we should use our collective efforts for the development of our country.”
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He will serve four years as president and leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a nation of about 88 million people.
Pezeshkian, 69, won 16.3 million of the 30.5 million votes cast, giving him a majority of 53.6 percent.
He won by about 2.8 million votes over hardline candidate Said Jalili, who received 13.5 million votes, or 44.3 percent of the vote.
Nearly half of Iran's eligible voters, 49.8 percent, voted in the runoff election.
Pezeshkian's victory was unexpected as he faced off against several conservative and hard-line candidates, with many describing him as a “second-tier candidate” and a “reformist in name only.”
He received the most votes in the first round, advancing to Friday's runoff election after no candidate received a majority.
Pezeshkian served as Iran's health minister from 1997 to 2005 under former President Mohammed Khatami.
Khatami was Iran's last reformist president.
Pezeshkian has served in the Iranian parliament since 2008, most recently as deputy speaker.
He is also a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and favors easing Iran's restrictions on many of its hardline policies.
Pezeshkian has said she wants to ease strict enforcement of Iran's hijab laws, which require women to wear the hijab in public.
Trump has also said he wants to improve ties with Western countries, including the United States, and resume nuclear negotiations with world powers.
Pezeshkian replaces Iran's former president, Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in the mountainous border area on May 19.
