Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran presidential election

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s runoff presidential election, beating hardliner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the west and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.

A vote count offered by authorities on Saturday morning put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million after Friday’s voting.

Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew and victory became apparent over Jalili – a former nuclear negotiator close to Iran’s supreme leader.

Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shia theocracy in his campaign and long has held the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the final arbiter of all matters of state. But even Pezeshkian’s modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hardliners.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/06/iran-reformist-masoud-pezeshkian-extends-lead-in-presidential-election-count

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A good direction, though we'll have to wait and see how much difference he makes.

[LeftInTX]

1. What do they mean by "reform"? His Wikipedia sounds like he's pretty much the same as the others.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. He's not a religious, or a hardline "the West is evil", nutter

Dr Pezeshkian, a 71-year-old heart surgeon and member of the Iranian parliament, is critical of Iran’s notorious morality police and caused a stir after promising “unity and cohesion”, as well as an end to Iran's “isolation” from the world.

He has also called for “constructive negotiations” with Western powers over a renewal of the faltering 2015 nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for an easing of Western sanctions.

His rival, Saeed Jalili, favours the status quo. The former nuclear negotiator enjoys strong support amongst Iran’s most religious communities.

Mr Jalili is known for his hardline anti-Western stance and opposition to restoring the nuclear deal, which he says crossed Iran’s “red lines".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx824yl3ln4o

[LeftInTX]

4. Wikipedia says other stuff:

After the 2022 protests, Pezeshkian demanded the creation of an assessment and clarification team regarding the incident. Although he considered the way of dealing with the protestors and their trial to be contrary to the constitution and demanded that the defendants should get lawyers, he later issued an statement, condemned the protests and did not consider it to be in the people's interest.[19]

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Citation needed, for what you have bolded

So, that comes from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoud_Pezeshkian#Critical_of_the_system

The [19] goes to Masoud Pezeshkian is a possible game changer in the upcoming Iranian presidential election, which has, on the protests and other matters:

Known for his reformist stance, Pezeshkian has criticized the government’s handling of political dissent. After the controversial 2009 post-election protests known as the Green Movement, he delivered a speech in parliament criticizing the security forces’ brutal response. This speech caused significant tension from conservative members, who attempted to interrupt.

During pragmatist Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, Pezeshkian strongly supported the 2015 nuclear deal, frequently speaking in its favor in parliament. In a rare state television interview during the nationwide anti-establishment protests following Mahsa Jina Amini’s death at the hands of the so-called morality police, Pezeshkian questioned the official narrative, citing his medical background when disputing the government’s explanation of her death. His call for an independent evaluation team highlighted his commitment to transparency and accountability.
...
Despite these strengths, Pezeshkian faces significant challenges. He lacks clear and documented plans for running the country, particularly in foreign policy, where he defers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. When mentioning Khamenei, he uses the respectful title “exalted supreme leader,” which is common among conservatives, while reformists prefer to address him with the title of “leader.” Pezeshkian’s loyalty to Khamenei may have secured his candidacy, but it might not be sufficient to win over the electorate, especially the middle class yearning for change.

Pezeshkian has been endorsed by the reformists, including former President Mohammad Khatami. The parties and key figures of this political faction have mobilized their efforts to ensure Pezeshkian’s victory in the presidential election. Additionally, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister, has been chosen as Pezeshkian’s foreign policy adviser and is actively participating in his election campaign.

Looking at Wikipedia history, the emboldened phrase used to have a Persian language citation, but I can't read Persian, and have no idea on the reliability of Persian language sources. But saying the protests should not have been violently suppressed is far better than being OK with that, even if he did think the protests themselves were wrong.

[LeftInTX]

10. Well, I hope he's better.

[prodigitalson]

9. no stonings on weekends

[Raven123]

2. I know nothing about Iranian politicians. Sounds like baby steps forward

Hope it gains momentum

[Aussie105]

6. Saw some locals being interviewed when results came out.

All looking forward to things relaxing a bit and trying to make a better connection with the West.

Of course, the interviews may have been culled for positive responses.

[peppertree]

7. Another positive effect of having Biden - rather than El Cheeto - in the Oval Office

Raisi rose to power in no small part as a reaction to Trump, and his typically ham-handed, punitive approach toward Iran.

And Pezeshkian's election would probably not have been possible, if the Orange Oaf were still in office.

Indeed - we would probably have hundreds of thousands of troops in a demented ground war in Iran by now, if he were.

Anything to please Nutty-yahoo.

[brooklynite]

8. I suspect "reform" is a relative term in his case.