After winning the run-off with 53.7 percent of votes, Pezeshkian acknowledged ‘difficult path ahead’
Tehran
Iran’s president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian has promised to serve all Iranians in his first remarks after being declared the winner of an election run-off against hardline rival Saeed Jalili.
“The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy, and trust,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X on Saturday.
“I extend my hand towards you and swear on my honour that I will not leave you alone on this path. Don’t leave me alone,” added Pezeshkian, who is seen as a centrist and reform-minded candidate.
Pezeshkian secured nearly 16.4m of the more than 30m votes cast, ahead of Jalili who received some 13.5m, according to the official count.
“By gaining [the] majority of the votes cast on Friday, Pezeshkian has become Iran’s next president,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Shortly after the announcement, Jalili conceded defeat, saying anybody elected by the people must be respected.
“Not only should he be respected, but now we must use all our strength and help him move forward with strength,” he told state television.
There were scenes of celebration after the results were declared, with small groups of Pezeshkian supporters taking to the streets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was among several world leaders to congratulate Pezeshkian, but Western leaders were yet to respond.
Low turnout
Participation in the run-off was 49.8 percent in the tight race between Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates who has pledged to open Iran to the world, and the former nuclear negotiator Jalili, who is a staunch advocate of deepening Iran’s ties with Russia and China.
The vote on Friday followed a June 28 ballot with an historically low turnout, when more than 60 percent of Iranian voters abstained from the snap election for a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, following his death in a helicopter crash in May.
In last week’s election, Pezeshkian received about 42.5 percent of votes and Jalili some 38.7 percent.
Reporting from Tehran on Saturday, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar noted that about 50 percent of Iranians didn’t vote as some didn’t “have faith that the election will bring any change, whether the winner is a conservative or a reformist”.
Others boycotted the election, Serdar said. “This is a silent protest.”
Pezeshkian is expected to assume his duties within 30 days. As he is still a member of parliament from Tabriz, the body will first vote on his resignation.
The country’s ninth elected president will next have to be officially endorsed in a ceremony by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after which he will be sworn in at the parliament.
