Khamenei officially endorses relative moderate as Iran’s president
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Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, granting a decree to Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DUBAI – Iran’s Supreme Leader has formally endorsed Mr Masoud Pezeshkian as the country’s president after he won an election in July by pledging a pragmatic foreign policy and easing of repression at home.
Mr Pezeshkian, a relative moderate who will be sworn in on July 30, is taking office at a time of escalating Middle East tensions over Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran warned its arch foe Israel on July 28 against what it called any new adventure in Lebanon, after the Israeli authorities blamed Hezbollah for a rocket attack on July 27
Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the strike.
In a ceremony broadcast live on state television, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave his approval for Mr Pezeshkian to assume the post, and, in a speech afterwards, the Supreme Leader reiterated Iran’s longstanding anti-Israel stance.
“The Zionist regime (Israel) is not a state. It is a criminal gang, a bank of killers and a terrorist band,” the Ayatollah said in his speech, while praising the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for its resistance against Israel in Gaza.
With the Supreme Leader calling the shots on all state matters, Mr Pezeshkian is not expected to usher in major shifts on Iran’s policies, such as Tehran’s support for militia groups across the region.
The top authority in regional policy is not the president, but the powerful Revolutionary Guards, who answer only to the Ayatollah.
Mr Pezeshkian’s victory lifted hopes of a thaw in Iran’s antagonistic relations with the West that might create openings for defusing its nuclear dispute with world powers.
But as the ultimate authority in Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say in matters such as the country’s foreign and nuclear policy, as well as Mr Pezeshkian’s upcoming selections for key Cabinet posts, such as the foreign, oil and intelligence ministers.
As the clerical establishment faces growing public discontent over economic hardships, Mr Pezeshkian’s top economic goal will be breaking free of crippling US sanctions, reimposed after Washington ditched Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
“In response to global issues, we should act proactively and effectively... Priorities must be observed; today (on the domestic front) the priority is economic issues,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.
Mr Pezeshkian is replacing hardline president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash
