Photo of Masoud Pezeshkian courtesy of Ayoub Ghaderi via Wikimedia Commons.
By Liliana Stinson ’27
Staff Writer
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian defeated ultraconservative Saeed Jalili in a runoff on July 5, 2024, winning Iran’s presidential election, according to AP News. The win comes at a time when Iran has received significant international attention due to its strict religious domestic policy and anti-Israel foreign policy. This election’s result may signify a shift in politics for Iran.
Pezeshkian won the runoff by nearly three million votes: a major victory for the moderates in an election where only about 50% of the electorate voted, according to CNN. The first round of voting, which occurred on June 28, had a record low turnout as Iranians protested the tightly controlled elections; however, many broke their boycott in order to defeat Saeed Jalili, whose hard-line politics were seen as extreme and divisive, The New York Times reported.
As president, Pezeshkian will have the power to determine Iran’s domestic policy and influence its foreign affairs. However, ultimate authority rests in Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Guardian Council. Pezeshkian has made it clear that he seeks to build consensus across political factions and work within the Islamic Republic, Vox reported.
Despite limits on his power, President-elect Pezeshkian has notably pledged social and economic reform. According to CNN, he opposes the enforcement of Iran’s hijab laws through force, which contributed to the massive, violent protests that wracked Iran in 2022 in response to the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini died in police custody after she was detained for violating the Islamic republic’s dress code. Additionally, Pezeshkian is Kurdish and Azeri, making him a member of two of Iran’s ethnic minority groups. Pezeshkian could improve conditions for under-served and neglected minorities such as the Kurdish population, Arabs, Balochs and Azeris, Vox reported.
While Pezeshkian’s slightly more moderate domestic agenda will likely face few roadblocks, Iran’s foreign policy is largely dictated by decades of opposition to the West. Indeed, in an article originally published in the Tehran Times, Pezeshkian observed Iran’s severed ties with Israel — which he refers to as “an apartheid regime” — as well as the country’s rocky relationship with Europe and continued hostilities with America. However, a change in Iran’s international affairs may be necessary if Pezeshkian seeks to address Iran’s economic plight.
According to the U.S. Department of State’s website, Iran’s economy has long been heavily restricted due to comprehensive U.S. sanctions, which have been in place in some capacity since the Iranian Revolution and the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.
Other sources of economic strife come from government corruption and profiteering from the sanctions, as well as mismanagement, Vox reported.
While campaigning, Pezeshkian said that he would negotiate with the West to lift or ease sanctions, many of which concern Iran’s continuing nuclear program, according to ABC News. This rhetoric is reminiscent of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action —also referred to as JCPOA or the Iran nuclear deal— in 2015, Vox reported.
However, the JCPOA, which placed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief, collapsed after former President Donald J. Trump withdrew forces in 2018 and Iran subsequently resumed nuclear activity, the Council on Foreign Relations reported. Both parties’ failure to uphold the JCPOA’s terms has drastically limited the possibility of a similar large-scale nuclear agreement, especially as negotiations between the two countries grow increasingly controversial on both sides.
In addition to criticism from Iran’s political right, any attempt by Pezeshkian to ease sanctions will receive significant pushback from “merchants of sanctions,” or officials who profit from selling black market goods and the like, Vox reported. Yet, despite the challenges associated with negotiations between Iran and the West, Pezeshkian notably is willing and prepared to engage in dialogue to lift sanctions.
President-elect Pezeshkian is unlikely to significantly impact regional dynamics, especially Iran’s ongoing conflict against Israel. Indeed, The New York Times reported that Pezeshkian has said he would negotiate with every country except Israel, and per Iranian state media, the President-elect has pledged to support Hezbollah and the Palestinian cause.
Nonetheless, this continuity is notable as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalates and both parties repeatedly trade strikes that threaten to pull Lebanon, and possibly Iran and the United States, into a broader regional war.
