Who is Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformer and Turkish origin who was elected president of Iran?

In the second round of the elections held in Iran, reformist Massoud Pezeshkian was elected president by defeating his conservative rival Said Jalili. Pezeshkian received 53.3 percent of more than 30 million votes. Celili's vote rate was 44.3 percent. Massoud Pezeshkiyan belongs to the political wing defined as reformist in Iranian politics and differed from other names with his discourses during the campaign.

In his first statement on his social media account, Pezeshkian said, "Dear people of Iran, the elections are over and this is just the beginning of our partnership. I extend my hand to you and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path."

Masoud Pezeshkian (born 29 September 1954) is an Iranian cardiac surgeon and reformist politician who is the president-elect of Iran. Earlier, Pezeshkian represented Tabriz, Osku and Azarshahr electoral district in the Parliament of Iran, and also served as its First Deputy Speaker from 2016 to 2020. He was Minister of Health and Medical Education between 2001 and 2005 in the Government of Mohammad Khatami.

The first round of the election was held on June 28 and no candidate gained the majority.

The participation rate in the first round remained at 40 percent.

This was recorded as the lowest turnout rate in the presidential race in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In the second round, the participation rate increased to 50 percent.

The election was declared in Iran after President Ibrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May that killed seven people.

Pezeshkian's supporters took to the streets to celebrate in Tehran and several other cities before the final results were announced.

In videos shared on social media, mostly young people can be seen dancing in the streets and waving the green flag, which is the signature of Pezeşkiyan's campaign, while passing cars honking their horns.

Who is Massoud Pezeshkian?

Massoud Pezeshkiyan belongs to the political wing defined as reformist in Iranian politics and differed from other names with his discourses during the campaign.

The 69-year-old politician attracted the most attention with his statement that the actions of the morality police, which enforced strict headscarf rules against women, were "immoral".

Regarding this imposition, Pezeshkian said, "If wearing certain clothes is a sin, what is done to women is a 100 times greater sin. It is not written anywhere in the religion that it is allowed to oppress someone because of their clothing."

The politician also promised to improve relations with the West and revive nuclear negotiations to eliminate sanctions that have greatly damaged Iran's economy.

According to the BBC Persian team, Pezeşkiyan's domestic policies include reforming the health system, improving the quality of health services and reducing treatment costs, improving educational conditions, and increasing the quality of schools.

Pezeshkian also says that he attaches special importance to environmental issues and wants to implement comprehensive programs for environmental protection and sustainable development.

The politician also said Iran would lift its extensive internet censorship.

However, in Iran's governing system, it is unlikely that the president will make significant policy changes. Such decisions are made by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

However, it is possible that the president can influence Iran's political tone and will be closely involved in the selection of 85-year-old Khamenei's successor.

Pezeshkian appears loyal to Iran's theocratic rule and has little intention of confronting the religious administration. The politician has promised in interviews so far that he will not oppose Khamenei's policies.

Pezeshkian, who has been a member of parliament since 2008 and supports the rights of ethnic minorities, criticized religious institutions' suppression of political and social opposition.

During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Pezeshkian was tasked with deploying medical teams to the front lines.

He served as minister of health during the second term of former President Muhammad Khatami between 2001 and 2005.

Pezeşkiyan lost his wife and one of his children in a traffic accident in 1994. He raised his two surviving sons and a daughter alone and chose never to remarry.

"If I cannot fulfill my campaign promises, I will say goodbye to politics. There is no point in wasting my life and not being able to serve our beloved people," Pezeşkiyan said in a video message to voters.

'Among their priorities are the rights of women and young people'

Pezeshkian gave hope to some of the country's younger generation and women at a time when many people were despairing about their future.

At a polling station in Tehran, 48-year-old Fatemeh told AFP news agency that she voted for Pezeshkian "because the rights of women and young people are among his priorities."

Afarin, 37, who owns a beauty salon in Isfahan, told Reuters: "I know Pezeshkian will be a weak president, but he is still better than a hardliner."

One of those who refused to vote is 35-year-old Azad, who works as a human resources manager and activist in Tehran and has been imprisoned twice for criticizing the Iranian government.

Azad, whose name was changed for his own safety, shared that he is still traumatized by being held in solitary confinement and subjected to exhausting interrogations.

Referring to the period since the Islamic Revolution, Azad said, "Reformers have made no effort to change the political structure for 45 years."

Who were the other candidates?

In the elections held after the death of President Ibrahim Reisi, 6 candidates were approved by the regime, but two candidates withdrew from the race to prevent the division of conservative votes.

Pezeşkiyan's 58-year-old opponent in the second round of the election, Said Jalili, is a politician who favors the status quo. The politician, who in the past headed the delegation representing his country in talks regarding Iran's nuclear program, has strong support among Iran's most religious communities.

Jalili is known for his harsh anti-Western stance and his opposition to the renewal of the nuclear deal, which he says crosses Iran's "red lines".

Mohammad Baqir Galibaf, former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and current speaker of the parliament, and Mustafa Purmohammedi, the only cleric among the candidates, also competed in the first round.

The candidates were approved through a review process conducted by the Guardian Council.

In this process, 74 candidates, including many women, were eliminated from the race.

'Traitor minority' label

Iran was shaken by a huge wave of protests in 2022 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by morality police for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code.

Widespread discontent in the country resulted in millions of people boycotting the elections.

Those who do not trust any state-run political process consist of disillusioned young people and Iranians who are mostly in the middle class of society.

Many people in Iran believe that religious institutions allowed Pezeshkian to run in order to increase voter turnout.

Some people who did not vote in the first round were persuaded to vote for Pezeşkiyan this time in order to prevent Celili from becoming president.

These people feared that if Jalili won, Iran would enter into more conflict with the outside world and more sanctions would be imposed on the country.

Before the second round, the "traitorous minority" tag went viral on Iranian social media. In the posts, a call was made not to vote for both candidates, and those who would vote were described as "traitors".

The country's religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected claims that low turnout meant "rejection of the form of government" and said, "There are various reasons for low turnout. Politicians and sociologists will examine them, but if anyone thinks that those who do not vote are against the order, they are clearly mistaken."

Is Massoud Pezeshkian of Turkish origin?

In Iran, reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian won the second round of the presidential elections. Pezeşkiyan, who was elected as the 9th President of the country, made statements in Kurdish and Turkish during the campaigns and asked "Is Pezeşkiyan a Turk?" It also brought with it questions. Pezeşkiyan, who revealed a past interview, asked: "Are you Turkish?" What did he answer to the question?

While Pezeshkian, who was defeated in the elections in 2013 and 2021, became the 9th President of Iran, speculations about Pezeshkiyan's Turkish origin became a current issue.

Pezeshkiyan, who was born on September 29, 1954, in Mahabad city in Iran's West Azerbaijan Province, stated in the interview that he was the child of an Iranian Azerbaijani Turkish family and said, "I am proud to be a Turk."

Speaking in Azerbaijani Turkish, Pezeşkiyan emphasized that he spoke Turkish with his children at home and said, "From the very beginning, I did not even allow my children to speak Persian at home, we were speaking Azerbaijani."

Pezeşkiyan was seen saying in the interview, "I definitely said that I was Turkish, that I was born in Azerbaijan. My father was Turkish, my mother was Turkish, and I am proud to be Turkish."

Pezeshkian, who lost his wife and one child in a traffic accident in 1993 and raised his two children alone, was also stated in the information in the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) as a member of the Iran-Turkey Friendship Association.

According to Tabnak, a news site that publishes analyses in Persian, Pezeshkiyan said, "God created him as a Turk and no one has the right to ridicule the language and culture of Turks, and that Turks and other ethnic groups in Iran are subject to Article 15 of the Constitution." "They should be able to write, speak, and learn in their own language in schools," he said.

KhabarOnline, the news agency broadcasting in Iran, stated that Pezeshkiyan is a supporter of the Traktor team, which is a Turkish team in Iran.

The surname means "Doctors" in Persian

Pezeshkiyan, whose surname means "Doctors" in Persian, graduated from Tabriz University Faculty of Medicine with honors in general medicine.

Pezeşkiyan, who completed his general practice course in 1985, started teaching physiology courses at the medical faculty. Pezeshkian served as the rector of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences for five years between 1994 and 1999.

Pezeshkian served as Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education in the Government of Mohammad Khatami between 2001 and 2005.