DUBAI: Iran’s president-elect, low-profile moderate Masoud Pezeshkian, carries the hopes of millions of Iranians seeking less restrictions on social freedoms and a more pragmatic foreign policy. Pezeshkian, who defeated hardline Saeed Jalili in Friday’s second-round presidential vote, is someone world powers are likely to welcome, hoping he might pursue peaceful ways out of a tense standoff with Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear program, analysts said.

HH the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah congratulated Pezeshkian, wishing him a long healthy life and more prosperity and development for the Islamic republic. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah also sent congratulatory cables to Pezeshkian.

Pezeshkian managed to win with a constituency - whose core was believed to be the urban middle class and young - that had been widely disillusioned by years of security crackdowns that stifled any public dissent from Islamist orthodoxy. The 69-year-old cardiac surgeon has pledged

to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalization and political pluralism.

Under Iran’s dual system of clerical and republican rule, the president cannot usher in any major policy shift on Iran’s nuclear program or support for militia groups across the Middle East, since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls all the shots on top state matters. However, the president can influence the tone of Iran’s policy and he will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Khamenei, now 85.

Pezeshkian received more than 16 million votes, around 54 percent, and Jalili more than 13 million, roughly 44 percent, out of about 30 million votes cast, electoral authority spokesman Mohsen Eslami said. Turnout was 49.8 percent, Eslami added, up from a record low of about 40 percent in the first round. Pezeshkian will be sworn in before parliament in early August as the Islamic republic’s ninth president, state media reported Sunday.

In the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini in southern Tehran, Pezeshkian gave a speech thanking his supporters, saying their votes have “given hope to a society plunged into an atmosphere of dissatisfaction”. “I did not give false promises in this election,” said Pezeshkian, flanked by former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. “I didn’t say anything that I wouldn’t be able to do tomorrow.” In an earlier post on X, Pezeshkian said the vote was the start of a “partnership” with Iran’s people.

Khamenei congratulated Pezeshkian, urging him to “continue the path of Martyr Raisi and use the country’s many capacities, especially the revolutionary and faithful youth, for the comfort of the people and the progress of the country”. Khamenei accused “enemies of the Iranian nation” of being behind a “scheme of boycotting the elections”.

Hassan Rouhani, a moderate in office until Raisi’s victory in 2021, congratulated Pezeshkian on his win. Rouhani said voters had shown “they want a serious change in the state of governance in the country”. They had voted “for constructive interaction with the world” and for revival of the nuclear deal, he added.

Pezeshkian is faithful to Iran’s theocratic rule with no intention of confronting the powerful security hawks and clerical rulers. In TV debates and interviews, he has promised not to contest Khamenei’s policies. “If I try but fail to fulfil my campaign promises, I would say goodbye to political work and not continue. There is no point in wasting our life and not being able to serve our dear people,” Pezeshkian said in a video message to voters.

Resurfaced from quiescence after years of political isolation, the reformist camp led by former President Mohammad Khatami endorsed Pezeshkian in the election after the death of hardline President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May. Pezeshkian’s views offer a contrast to those of Raisi, a Khamenei protege who tightened enforcement of a law curbing women’s dress and took a tough stance in now-moribund negotiations with major powers to revive the nuclear deal.

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump ditched the pact and reimposed sanctions on Iran. His move prompted Tehran to progressively violate the agreement’s nuclear limits. Pezeshkian has vowed to revive the flagging economy, beset by mismanagement, state corruption and US sanctions. As the powers of the elected president are circumscribed by those of Khamenei, many Iranians keen for political pluralism at home and an end to Iran’s isolation abroad doubt the country’s ruling theocracy would let Pezeshkian make major changes even if he tried.

“Pezeshkian might be able to bring some social freedoms. But he will be a weak president because Khamenei and his allies are much more powerful than the president,” said Sohrab Hosseini, a 45-year-old businessman in Iran’s Kish Island. “I voted for him to prevent Jalili from winning.” In Tehran, there were no obvious celebrations on Saturday after the final results were announced, but state TV showed large crowds waving the Iranian flag in the northwestern city of Tabriz, which Pezeshkian had represented in parliament since 2008.

In Tehran, some Iranians hailed the outcome. “We are very happy that Mr Pezeshkian won,” said Abolfazl, a 40-year-old architect who gave only his first name. “I expected him to become the president because we really needed a well-educated president to solve the economic problems of the people.”

As a lawmaker since 2008, Pezeshkian, an Azeri who supports the rights of fellow ethnic minorities, has criticized the clerical establishment’s suppression of political and social dissent. In 2022, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died in custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating a law restricting women’s dress. Her death sparked months of unrest across the country. “We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behavior toward women,” Pezeshkian said after casting his vote in the first round.

At a Tehran University meeting last month, responding to a question about students imprisoned on charges linked to 2022-23 unrest, Pezeshkian said “political prisoners are not within my scope, and if I want to do something, I have no authority”. During the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s, Pezeshkian, a combatant and physician, was tasked with the deployment of medical teams to the frontlines. He was health minister from 2001-5 in Khatami’s second term. Pezeshkian lost his wife and one of his children in a car accident in 1994. He raised his surviving two sons and a daughter alone, opting to never remarry. – Agencies