Iran’s new reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian faces serious challenges | Wilnesh News

Iran elected its first “reformist” president in 20 years on Friday, official data showed, showing many voters rejected hardline conservative policies amid a turnout of just 49%.

Masoud Pezeshkian, a former health minister and member of parliament, is the most moderate candidate to run for the presidency after former President Ibrahim Raisi died suddenly in a helicopter crash in May.

Described by many analysts as a “token reformist” and a “second-tier candidate”, the 69-year-old Pezeshkian is considered to have little chance of becoming president because of his lack of name recognition and facing a highly conservative party. system.

“The whole electoral process that led to Pezeshkian’s victory was really surprising,” Sina Toossi, senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy, told CNBC. “It really marks a significant shift in the political landscape of Iran.”

Tusi said the results “reflected a complex interplay between voter dissatisfaction, abstention and the desire for change. Although the electoral process was tightly controlled and undemocratic, Pezeshkian’s success signaled a rejection of hard-line extremism and a rejection of hard-line extremism.” Reform and the desire for better.

His victory in the polls was all the more surprising given Iran’s ultra-conservative Guardian Council. Decide who can run in elections First, throw your weight behind conservative candidates.

Still, Pezeshkian “faces significant challenges from entrenched hardliners and external pressure, making his presidency a critical and uncertain chapter in Iran’s future,” Toosi said.

Pezeshkian is a former heart surgeon who served as health minister from 1997 to 2005 under the authority of Iran’s last reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. social restrictions such as strict headscarf laws, and improving relations with the West, including a possible restart of nuclear talks with world powers.

But “reformist” is a relative term in Iran. Pezeshkian still expressed support for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said he had no intention of challenging the Islamic Republic’s theocratic system.

Nader Itaim, Middle East Gulf editor for Argus Media, said Pezeshkian “is a reformist who has come out many times over the past few weeks to say that Khamenei’s path or direction is the path and he is completely I plan to take this path.”

“He is not a reformist trying to step in and change the status quo. In that sense, he is a low-risk option for Khamenei” and may be viewed by religious authorities as “controllable,” Itayim said. of”.

For Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, Pezeshkian’s election represents little more than a cosmetic change.

“Pezeshkhian offers the regime the opportunity for another stylistic change in exchange for substantial concessions from the West,” Ben Taleblu said.

“Faced with growing domestic and international challenges, especially in the wake of the nationwide ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ uprising against the regime in 2022-2023, Tehran is trying to seduce the West again with the same moderation.”

Months of protests for women’s rights and the collapse of the Iranian regime have rocked Iran and its hardline government following the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini in September 2022 . Mini was arrested on suspicion of improperly wearing a hijab and later died in police custody.

protest activity led to a severe crackdown and frequent internet blockades by the Iranian authorities, as well as thousands of arrests and multiple executions.

Although Pezeshkian has publicly expressed support for measures such as easing hijab penalties, human rights groups focused on Iran are not optimistic.

“Anyone who pledges allegiance to (Iran) Constitutionalists, ‘reformers’, ‘moderates’, ‘conservatives’… are ultimately hardliners by democratic standards. “That’s why many Iranians have lost hope in achieving change through the ballot box and are boycotting the elections. reason. ”

“Presidential choices may bring about small changes, but even in the best-case scenario, they cannot bring about major changes for Iran,” the report said. “The core structure of Iran’s theocratic regime is that the supreme leader’s authority transcends that of any president. “

Pezeshkian wants to focus on Iran and Iran sanctions relief its battered economy and talked about repairing some relations with the West, particularly over the Iran nuclear deal, which lifted crippling economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on the country’s nuclear program.

Iran is now Closer than ever to bomb-making capabilities, Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who imposed tough sanctions on Tehran during his previous term, is likely to return to the White House in November, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. If Trump still maintains his previous firm stance of imposing sanctions on Iran and abandoning the nuclear agreement after taking office, then Pezeshkian’s goal will be basically in vain.

Iran election results present “potential for opening up to the West, but given that we are at the (possible) end of the Biden presidency and the Trump presidency and Republican hawks are likely to have zero interest in engaging with Iran” , Tim Ash, senior emerging markets strategist at Royal Bank of Canada BlueBay Asset Management said in an email.

He added: “It’s worth noting that I think Iran, like the Gulf states, would like to focus on the economy as a way to reduce political pressure, but given the political cycle in the United States and the events in Gaza, that seems unlikely. this circumstance occurs.