Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian Defeats Hardliner Saeed Jalili in Iran’s Presidential Runoff Election

Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election on Saturday defeating his hardliner opponent Saeed Jalili.

Pezeshkian promised to ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law and to reach out to the West after years of sanctions.

Pezeshkian promises will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners.

A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election.

Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker. The election was held following the death of late President Ebrahim Raisi in a May helicopter crash. He was a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.