Balancing reform

Diplomacy

Pezeshkian's Presidency: Balancing reform and resistance

Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian has been elected as Iran's 14th president, winning by a wide margin over conservative candidate Saeed Jalili, who was favored by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pezeshkian hails from West Azerbaijan Province and was born in 1954 in Mahabad city. His father is Iranian-Azeri, and his mother is Iranian-Kurdish. Pezeshkian earned a bachelor's degree in general medicine and, as a young medical student, joined the revolutionaries against the Pahlavi regime. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, he served as a combat doctor. In 2001, Pezeshkian became Iran's Minister of Health, and since 2008, he has been a Member of Parliament representing East Azerbaijan.