Masoud Pezeshkian

President-elect of IranAssuming office
July 6, 2024Vice PresidentTBDSupreme LeaderAli KhameneiSucceedingMohammed Mokhber (Acting)Member of the Parliament of IranAssumed office
27 May 2008ConstituencyTabriz, Osku and Azarshahr, (East Azerbaijan)Majority261,605 (36.27%)Minister of Health and Medical EducationIn office
22 August 2001 – 24 August 2005PresidentMohammad KhatamiPreceded byMohammad FarhadiSucceeded byKamran Bagheri Lankarani Personal detailsBorn (1954-09-29) 29 September 1954 (age 69)
Mahabad, Imperial State of IranPolitical partyIndependentOther political
affiliationsReformistsChildren4^[1]Alma materTabriz University of Medical Sciences
Iran University of Medical SciencesProfessionHeart surgeonWebsitedrpezeshkian.irMilitary serviceAllegiance Islamic Republic of IranBranch/serviceIslamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsBattles/warsIran–Iraq War

Masoud Pezeshkian (Persian: مسعود پزشکیان; born 29 September 1954) is an Iranian cardiac surgeon and reformist politician who is the current President-elect of Iran.^[2] Before that, 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.^[3] Pezeshkian was elected governor to both Piranshahr and Naghadeh counties in West Azerbaijan province during the 1980s.^[4] He ran in the 2013 presidential election, but withdrew, and ran again in the 2021 election, but was rejected.^[5] He qualified for the 2024 presidential election, which he won.

Early life and education

Pezeshkian was born in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan on 29 September 1954^[6] to an Iranian Azerbaijani father and mother.^[7] In 1973, he received his diploma and moved to Zabol to serve his conscription duty. It was during this time when he became interested in medicine. After completing his service, he returned to his home province, where he entered medical school and graduated with a degree in general medicine. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), Pezeshkian frequently visited the front lines, where he was responsible for sending medical teams and working as a fighter and doctor. Pezeshkian finished his General practitioner course in 1985, and started teaching Physiology at the medical college.

In addition to Persian, Pezeshkian speaks many languages, including Turkish and English.^[8][9]

After the war, he continued his education, specializing in general surgery at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. In 1993, he received a subspecialty in cardiac surgery from Iran University of Medical Sciences. He later became a specialist in heart surgery, leading him to become president of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 1994, a position he held for five years.^[10]

Career

Pezeshkian's political career began when he joined Mohammad Khatami's administration as Deputy Health Minister in 1997. He was appointed Health Minister four years later, serving from 2001 to 2005.^{[11][dead link]} Since then, he has been elected to the Iranian parliament five times, representing Tabriz, and served as the First Deputy Speaker of the parliament from 2016 to 2020.

On 6 July 2024, Pezeshkian was elected President after winning the 5 July run-off of the 2024 presidential election with 16.3 million votes (53.7%) to Saeed Jalili's 13.5 million (44.3%).^[12] He is scheduled to take the office of president sometime between 22 July–5 August 2024, before which the Iranian parliament must approve his resignation.^[13]

Pezeshkian is a Quran teacher, and reciter of the Nahj al-balagha, a key text for Shia Muslims.^[14]

Views

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Pezeshkian is a supporter of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and has called its current incarnation "different from the past".^[15] He condemned the declaration of the IRGC as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration in 2019.^[16] After the 2019 Iranian shoot-down of an American drone, Pezeshkian called the American government "terrorist" and described the IRGC's action to target the drone as "a strong punch to the mouths of the leaders of criminal America".^[17] During a university meeting and in response to some criticisms, Pezeshkian put on an IRGC uniform, and said that he would wear it again.^[18]

Criticism of the Iranian system

Pezeshkian has criticized the Iranian system multiple times. During the 2009 post-election protests, in a speech, Pezeshkian criticized the way the protesters were treated. In his speech, he mentioned the words of the first Shiite Imam [Ali] addressed to Malik Ashtar not to treat people "like a wild animal".^[19]

Pezeshkian considered Iran's method of managing the 2018 protests as "scientifically and intellectually wrong". He blamed the country's system for all the events and said, "We should have done better."^[20] After the 2022 protests, Pezeshkian demanded the creation of an assessment and clarification team regarding the incident. Although he considered the way of dealing with the protesters and their trial to be contrary to the constitution and demanded that the defendants should get lawyers, he later issued a statement, condemned the protests and did not consider it to be in the people's interest.^[21]

Ethnic views

Pezeshkian emphasizes the rights of ethnic groups such as Azeris, Kurds and Baluchis and states that the rights of these groups should be protected. He supports the implementation of Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution for all ethnicities. This principle says: "The official and common language and script of the people of Iran is Persian. Documents, correspondence, official texts and textbooks must be in this language and script, but the use of local and ethnic languages in the press and mass media and the teaching of their literature in schools is free, along with the Persian language." He argues that the implementation of this principle mitigates separatist and dissident motivations.^[22] Pezeshkian also supports teaching of the Azerbaijani language in Iranian schools.^[5]

Personal life

Pezeshkian's wife was a gynecologist.^[23] In 1993, she died along with their youngest son in a car crash.^[24] He raised his remaining two sons and daughter alone and has never remarried.^[25] His daughter, Zahra, has a master's degree in chemistry from Sharif University of Technology, and was working at Jam Petrochemical before the Rouhani government came to power. She is also regarded as a political adviser.

Pezeshkian is a fan of Tractor S.C.^[26]

Public image

Sources consider his family to be far from the sidelines and himself to have a clear track record in economic matters. However, his political opponents such as Alireza Zakani have accused him of defending people involved in corruption.^[27][28]

References

External links

Media related to Masoud Pezeshkian at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Mohammad Farhadi	Minister of Health and Medical Education 2001–2005	Succeeded by Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
Preceded by Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard	First Vice Speaker of Parliament of Iran 2016–2020	Succeeded by Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi
Preceded by Ebrahim Raisi	President-elect of Iran Taking office in 2024	Incumbent