Masoud Pezeshkian: Iran's heart-specialist president is single dad who stood for Mahsa Amini

Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's sole reformist candidate in the snap presidential election, has emerged from relative obscurity to become the ninth president of the Islamic republic. The elections were made necessary after President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a plane crash a month ago.

Pezeshkian, 69, secured approximately 53.6 per cent of the vote in a runoff election against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili.

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In the first round of Iran's snap elections on June 28, Pezeshkian led the polls against three other conservative candidates, surprising critics and admirers alike.

Pezeshkian's victory has reignited the hopes of Iran's reformists after years of conservative and ultraconservative dominance.

"The difficult path ahead will not be smooth without your companionship, empathy, and trust. I extend my hand to you," Pezeshkian said in a post on X, after previously stating he would "extend the hand of friendship to everyone" if he won.

The outspoken heart surgeon publicly criticised Ebrahim Raisi's government over its handling of the death of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

In a post on X, he called on authorities to "set up an investigation team" to examine the circumstances of her death.

During his recent campaign, he maintained his stance, criticising the enforcement of mandatory hijab laws which require women to cover their head and neck in public since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

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"We oppose any violent and inhumane behavior towards anyone, notably our sisters and daughters, and we will not allow these actions to happen," he said.

He also promised to ease internet restrictions and involve ethnic minorities in his government.

Pezeshkian was born in 1954 to an Iranian father of Turkic origin and a Kurdish mother in Mahabad, a city in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan.

He has represented Tabriz in Iran's parliament since 2008, served as health minister in Khatami's government, and oversaw medical teams during the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.

In 1993, Pezeshkian lost his wife and one of his children in a car accident. He never remarried and raised his remaining three children—two sons and a daughter—on his own.

Campaigning for Pezeshkian was Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's former foreign minister who helped secure the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which collapsed three years later during Donald Trump's presidency.

Pezeshkian has called for reviving the accord—which aimed to curb Tehran's nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief—to bring Iran "out of isolation."

"If we manage to lift the sanctions, people will have an easier life while the continuation of sanctions means making people's lives miserable," he said during a televised interview.

Pezeshkian will be responsible for implementing state policy outlined by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority in the country.