Egypt Daily News – On Sunday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced the inauguration of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian as the new president of the Republic of Iran, after winning the elections held following the death of Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
The director of the Supreme Leader’s Office read out the inauguration statement, which said: “In deference to the will of the great people, I implement their votes in choosing the wise, honest, popular and knowledgeable personality, and appoint him to the position of president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The inauguration ceremony of Pezeshkian as the country’s ninth president since 1979 was held, in the presence of Iranian officials and foreign diplomats.
The new president will be sworn in before the Shura Council (parliament) on Tuesday.
In the second round of the presidential elections held on July 5, Pezeshkian defeated the hardline conservative Saeed Jalili.
The presidential elections were scheduled for 2025, but they were held early this year after the death of Raisi in a helicopter crash last May.
Pezeshkian (69 years old) received more than 16 million votes, or about 54 percent of the total number of voters, which was approximately thirty million.
The participation rate in the second round was 49.8 percent, while participation was about 40 percent in the first round, which was the lowest in the history of presidential elections in Iran.
