Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian: Reformist hope or conservative trap?

Middle East Eye-June 17th2024

When Iran‘s Guardian Council announced the list of presidential candidates earlier in June, many were surprised to see a particular name: reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.

In recent years, the Islamic Republic has attempted to sideline and exclude reformists and moderates. The Guardian Council, whose 12 members are directly and indirectly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and tasked with vetting candidates, has rejected many strong reformist candidates running for the 28 June presidential elections.

Pezeshkian is now the sole candidate endorsed by all reformists in the election and the only candidate for those who desire change.

In recent years, Pezeshkian has demonstrated that he is a true reformist in both manner and principle. His positions have been so clear-cut that he was initially disqualified in the early stages of the recent parliamentary elections but was reinstated upon appealing against the decision.

Pezeshkian, 70, was born in the Kurdish city of Mahabad to an Azeri family. Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he was admitted to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences to study medicine in 1976.

During the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, he was responsible for dispatching medical teams to the front lines and simultaneously served as both a combatant and a doctor.

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Pezeshkian’s political life began with the rise of the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) when he was appointed as the deputy health minister and then the minister of health.

During the presidency of principlist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Pezeshkian focused solely on his medical practice. According to him, during this time, he earned a good income, enough to buy a house with a garden and provide financial assistance to his relatives.

However, he did not abandon politics and ran in the eighth parliamentary elections. Despite various challenges, Pezeshkian has won every subsequent elections since.

In 2013, Pezeshkian registered for the presidential election but withdrew shortly after. He ran again in 2021 but was disqualified by the Guardian Council.

During the 2021 anti-establishment protests, prompted by the death of a woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody for allegedly flouting the country’s Islamic dress code, he appeared on state TV, criticising the state and suggesting that Amini was beaten and killed at the hands of the morality police.

Is Pezeshkian a trap?

Pezeshkian was one of the three final candidates from the reformist camp, but with the disqualification of Eshaq Jahangiri and Abbas Akhoundi, he is now the sole candidate supported by reformists.

Reformists had previously warned the state that they would boycott the race if they didn’t have at least one candidate approved by the Guardian Council.

Many were still surprised to see a reformist on the list of candidates as they assumed the country’s hard-liners would never take such a risk.

A former conservative official told Middle East Eye that the primary decision-making circle in the establishment “wants to make a monster out of Pezeshkian in order to make some conservative candidates afraid that the reformists might win the race and withdraw in favour of the establishment’s favoured candidate”.

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