Daily Times

With a low-profile moderate candidate defeating a hardliner former nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, Iran’s run-off presidential vote has a clear message for the rest of the world: believe it or not, it has had enough of the old order.

Although Mr Masoud Pezeshkian, as the new president, might have little clout to change core policies in a country where his mandate remains limited and most of the big decisions are taken by the unelected Supreme Leader, the fact that the highest elected official does have influence upon setting the tone of these policies and overseeing their implementation can still not be denied. Choosing the mausoleum of late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for his first remarks as the newly-elect, Mr Pezeshkian seems set to work on a centrist agenda from the very first day.

As he called on the Iranian people to stick with him on the “difficult road ahead,” there’s a lot that he wishes to reform: a way out of the present isolation foreign policy, reviving stalled nuclear negotiations with major world powers and a not-anticipated but much-demanded reshaping of the political and social identity of the republic.

The election rhetoric and the selection of advisors do suggest that a Pezeshkian regime would stay focused on easing tensions with the West. However, to assume he would determinedly fight the battle on the homefront would be demanding too much from him too soon. In stark contrast to the historic low turnout of 39.9 per cent, even the staggering popularity received by two reformist presidents (Khatami and Rouhani) rendered little hope or political capital to open up the system.

Economic hardships, decades of sanctions and controversial repression of human rights in the name of religion would all prove to be significant challenges for the new administration at a time when public anger runs high. Experts believe that Tehran might use its executive’s close affiliation with Ayatullah Khomeini to find some common ground for a moderate vision. However, optimism diminishes when considering how former president, Ebrahim Raisi, despite enjoying a blue-eyed status, seemed unable to bring about the fundamental changes yearned by the masses. *