By Ute Kaiser
The run-off election has decided it: Masoud Pezeshkian prevailed over his rival Said Jalili with around 53.7 percent of the vote. The presidential election in Iran had become necessary after the incumbent Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash on May 19. Just under 50 percent of the approximately 61 million eligible voters took part in the second round of voting.
“There are no free and fair elections” in Iran, writes Azadeh Zamirirad from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. According to Zamirirad, the Guardian Council made up of clerics and lawyers decides, among other things, “who is allowed to stand as a candidate in elections and thus controls access to political power”.
Khamenei has the last word
The 69-year-old heart surgeon Pezeshkian was Minister of Health from 2001 to 2005. In contrast to the hardliner Jalili, he is considered a moderate politician or so-called reformer. Hamidreza Azizi from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs sees Pezeshkian’s election as a “signal that Iranian society wants change”. However, change in Iran has narrow limits, as academics and Western media agree.
Revolutionary leader Ali Khamenei has the final say in the Islamic Republic. A president is “ultimately an executive organ of the will of the Supreme Leader in the country”, according to journalist Uwe Lueb on Deutschlandfunk radio. This is why Iranian regime critics characterize the role of the president as a “democratic illusion” and call Pezeshkian’s promises of reform “mere slogans”.
Pezeshkian is due to take office at the end of July or beginning of August. The new president belongs to the conservative part of the reform camp. This means that he does not want to overthrow the ruling system, but only reform it within the framework of the existing order. For example, Pezeshkian has promised talks on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal and criticized the crackdown on the 2022 protest movement. However, he is not against the headscarf requirement, at best he is in favour of relaxing it. He would like to facilitate access to the internet.
Pezeshkian continues anti-Israel course
In terms of foreign policy, Pezeshkian spoke out in favor of normal relations with all countries in the world – except Israel. He wants to continue the anti-Israel course. In a letter, the president promised the Lebanese Hezbollah militia further support “for the resistance front against the illegitimate Zionist regime”, according to news agencies. He hoped that groups such as Hezbollah would not allow Israel to “continue its warmongering and criminal policy against Palestine and other countries in the region”, the letter continued.
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Straßen voller Flaggen in Teheran. Foto: tuenews INTERNATIONAL
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