Iranian reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in before parliament on Tuesday as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic at a ceremony attended by foreign dignitaries.
Pezeshkian won a runoff race on July 5 against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
Tuesday’s ceremony came two days after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei officially endorsed Pezeshkian and granted the 69-year-old heart surgeon presidential powers.
“I, as president, swear before the Holy Quran and the people of Iran, before Almighty God, that I am the guardian of the official religion and the Islamic Republic system and the country’s constitution,” Pezeshkian said at the ceremony, which was broadcast live on state TV.
Pezeshkian, who is expected to announce his government within two weeks, won more than 16 million votes in the second round of voting, roughly 54 percent of the nearly 30 million votes cast.
Iran’s presidential election comes at a time of heightened regional tensions since the Gaza war began in early October, a dispute with Western powers over Iran’s nuclear programme and domestic discontent over the state of the sanctions-hit economy.
Tuesday’s ceremony was attended by senior officials from several countries, including Armenia, Tajikistan, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Cuba and Brazil.
EU envoy Enrique Mora was also present.
Regional Iran-backed allies were also in attendance, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhlah.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement was represented by the group’s deputy secretary general Naim Qassem, while Yemen’s Houthi rebels sent spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam.
‘Death to Israel’
Haniyeh and Nakhlah, whose groups have been fighting Israel in the Gaza Strip since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, met Khamenei and Pezeshkian.
“The support for the interests of the oppressed Palestinian nation will continue firmly, and no factor can impede our will in this direction,” Pezeshkian said in a statement on Monday.
Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony came amid concerns of war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah following rocket attacks from Lebanon on Saturday on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israel has blamed Hezbollah for the attack that killed 12 children, but the Iran-backed Lebanese group has denied any involvement.
During Tuesday’s ceremony, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf delivered a speech in which he strongly criticized Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza.
Some Iranians present in parliament chanted: “Down with Israel, Down with America.”
Iran has made support for the Palestinian cause a central plank of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and praised Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October.
Iran’s president is not the head of state, and ultimate authority rests with the supreme leader — a position held by Khamenei for the past 35 years.
On Monday, Pezeshkian warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, saying such an act would have “serious consequences.”
Since his election, Iran’s new president has reaffirmed his support for the so-called “axis of resistance,” made up of Tehran-allied groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthis, who support Hamas against arch-enemy Israel.
Pezeshkian was the only candidate representing Iran’s reformist camp who was allowed to stand in Iran’s presidential election, for which all contenders were approved by the conservative-dominated Guardian Council.
During his campaign, the former health minister vowed to try to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which collapsed after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018.
Under the deal, Iran was given relief from sanctions in exchange for curbing its nuclear activities.
Pezeshkian has recently called for “constructive relations” with European countries, although he has accused them of reneging on commitments to mitigate the impact of new US sanctions.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
