Iran: does Masoud Pezeshkian's election mark a turning point?

New president is seen as a progressive but much will depend on how the US reacts

Masoud Pezeshkian at the final rally of his campaign
Masoud Pezeshkian at the final rally of his campaign
(Image credit: Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)

He says he'll block the "Hijab and Chastity Bill", which would bring in new penalties for women who fail to wear the hijab. He has slated the regime for its brutal crackdown of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests in 2022. He wants to relax the internet restrictions that shackle commercial and social life. He talks of reducing tensions with the West and restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with the US.

The victory of the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian in Iran's presidential election – called as a result of the death in a helicopter crash of the hardline president Ebrahim Raisi – has brought to an end "three years of conservative dominance over all branches of government" in Iran, said Sina Toossi in Foreign Policy (Washington). And if Pezeshkian makes good on even a few of his promises, his victory could be transformative.

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