TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme chief on Sunday formally endorsed Masoud Pezeshkian as president, permitting the reformist politician and coronary heart surgeon to take cost of a rustic weakened by financial sanctions over its nuclear program.
Throughout an endorsement ceremony, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Pezeshkian to prioritize neighbors, African and Asian nations in addition to international locations which have “supported and helped” Iran in Tehran’s international relations insurance policies.
Khamenei criticized European nations for “behaving badly to us” by adopting sanctions, an oil embargo and for calling out alleged human rights abuses.
He additionally condemned Israel for its actions in Gaza within the deaths of kids, ladies and hospitalized folks “who didn’t shoot a single bullet” in opposition to Israeli forces.
“The Zionist regime is exhibiting its ugliest face as a struggle legal,” mentioned Khamenei, accusing Israel of setting a “new report in assassinations” and cruelty. He additionally denounced the U.S. Congress for permitting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deal with the legislative physique.
Talking on the similar ceremony, Pezeshkian paid homage to Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s regional navy actions, who was killed in U.S. drone assault in 2020. He reiterated his promise to pursue a “constructive and environment friendly” international coverage, bolster the rule of regulation provide equal alternatives to residents, assist households and shield the atmosphere.
In his first official act in workplace, Pezeshkian appointed Mohammad Reza Aref, 72, as his first vice-president. Aref, who’s thought of a reasonable reformist, held the put up between 2001-2005 beneath former president Mohammad Khatami. Aref holds a doctorate in engineering from Stanford College.
Pezeshkian takes over from his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi whose dying in a Could helicopter crash that sparked the early election. He’ll take the oath of workplace in parliament Tuesday and can have two weeks to type his personal cupboard for a vote of confidence in parliament.
The brand new Iranian president pledged in his election marketing campaign that he would make no radical modifications to Iran’s Shiite theocracy, embracing Khamenei as the ultimate arbiter in all issues of state. Pezeshkian might bend Iran’s international coverage towards both confrontation or collaboration with the West and faces the fixed problem of hard-liners nonetheless pulling the strings in authorities.
Pezeshkian has tried to stroll the road between hard-liners and reformists with whom he has recognized. He has repeatedly criticized the U.S. whereas praising Iran’s highly effective paramilitary Revolutionary Guard for taking pictures down a U.S. drone in 2019 which he referred to as a “sturdy punch within the mount of the Individuals.”
Among the many urgent challenges Pezeshkian faces is the continued Israel-Hamas struggle within the Gaza Strip and Western fears over enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade ranges with sufficient of a stockpile to supply a number of nuclear weapons if it selected.
In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct assault on Israel over the struggle in Gaza, whereas militia teams armed by Tehran — together with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — have stepped up their very own assaults.
Iran has held oblique talks with President Joe Biden’s administration over its nuclear program however there’s been no progress in lifting robust financial sanctions in opposition to Tehran.
