Born in Mahabad, Pezeshkian is a certified medical doctor who built a reputation for himself during the Iran-Iraq war.

Iran's president-elect, low-profile moderate Masoud Pezeshkian, carries the hopes of millions of Iranians seeking less restrictions on social freedoms and a more pragmatic foreign policy.

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s presidential election, the country’s electoral authority said Saturday, defeating his hardline rival in a pivotal vote amid heightened tensions both domestically and internationally.

Pezeshkian's win comes amid an advancing nuclear program, a U.S. election which could impact how Tehran and Washington might revive the Iranian nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from which Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. in 2018.

Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, has won Iran’s presidential election. Host Marco Werman speaks with Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, about what this means for politics in Iran,

"We make promises and we fail to fulfill them. This is the biggest problem we have,” Pezeshkian said in his first speech as Iran's new president.

Masoud Pezeshkian has beat Saeed Jalili to win Iran's presidential runoff election; Pezeshkian promised outreach to the West and to ease enforcement of Iran's headscarf law.

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian beat hard-liner Saeed Jalili in the runoff election to replace the late president who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.

Iran's President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a gathering with his supporters at the shrine of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in south of Tehran, Iran July 6, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS /File Photo DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States should realise that Iran will not respond to pressure,