Loading ...Victor promises to ease hardline laws, but supports Khamenei and says he wants good ties with ‘all countries except Israel’; turnout at 49.8%, with 600,000 spoiled ballots
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election, it was announced early Saturday, besting hard-liner 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.
Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country.
He will also not lead change in Iran’s contentious relations with Israel, saying after he voted on Friday that should he win, he would “try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel.”
But even Pezeshkian’s other modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-reformist-masoud-pezeshkian-wins-presidential-election/