Who is the new president Iran Masoud Pezeshkian?
On Saturday morning, the Iranian Interior Ministry announced the victory of candidate Masoud Pezeshkian in the Iranian presidential elections in its second round in 2024.
Masoud Bizeshkian, an Iranian reformist doctor and politician born in 1954 in the city of Mahabad in the northeastern Iran province of Western Azerbaijan, grew up in a committed family.
Bizeshkian completed primary school in Mahabad in Western Azerbaijan province, then enrolled in the Institute of Agriculture in Urumieh, where he obtained a diploma in food industry.
He performed his military service in 1973 in the border city of Zabul in Sistan and Baluchestan province, and after the end of his service he decided to become a doctor, so he obtained a natural diploma in 1975, and then a year later he was accepted in the field of medicine at Tabriz City University of Medical Sciences.
With the start of the war imposed on Iran by the Baath regime in Iraq in 1980, Bizeshkian was responsible for sending medical teams to the battlefronts, and was active in many operations as a fighter and a doctor.
He completed his medical course in 1985 and began working at medical school as a physiology teacher.
In 1990, he received a specialization in general surgery from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, then in 1993 he obtained a specialization in cardiac surgery from Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, and was appointed to the Shahid Madani Heart Hospital in Tabriz, and later became its president.
In 1994 he was appointed President of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, and his presidency lasted until 2000.
He was then transferred to Tehran and served as Deputy Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education for 6 months.
Then, in the second term of the presidency of Mr. Mohamed Khatami, Bizeshkian took over as Minister of Health and after a while he was questioned by Parliament, and then left his post.
In 2013, he submitted his candidacy for the presidential elections, but the Guardian Council rejected his file.
In 2016, he won a seat in parliament elections and held a seat in parliament for many years.
Since 2008, Bizeshkian has represented Tabriz in the Iranian parliament.
Bizeshkian believes that the internal problems in Iran cannot be solved without solving problems with the outside world, and stresses that the administration of the country is based on constructive dealing with the world on the basis of dialogue and negotiation with various countries.
Bizeshkian also calls for improving relations between Iran and Western countries, led by the United States, on the basis of the three pillars of pride, wisdom and interest.
He announced that he would put at the top of his government’s priority the revival of the nuclear deal, which is in the interest of Iran and if it weren’t, former US President Donald Trump wouldn’t have withdrawn from it.
Bizeshkian believes that it’s in Iran’s interest to join the FATF (International Financial Action Task Force) in order to develop and facilitate trade with other countries.
Bizeshkian stressed that he would put an end to differences between political forces, which he says are the main cause of the problems of the country, through the use of the best experts and specialists.
He promised that he would follow up on the problems of workers, retirees and employees and work in a way that eliminates poverty, discrimination and corruption in the country, stressing the need to deal honestly with the public and not to give empty promises, promising to involve people in the management of the country and not a specific group.
He also promised to deal positively with women’s issues, freedom of access to the Internet, constitutional rights of nationalities, and political and social freedoms.
Bizeshkian won the Iranian presidential election with 16,384,403 votes against 13,538,179 for Saeed Jalili, thus becoming the ninth elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran since the victory of the Islamic Revolution led by Imam Khomeini in 1979.
