After Pezeshkian win, Iran nuclear diplomacy hinges on US election
Iran’s president-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian, says he wants to negotiate with the United States, but is the feeling mutual?
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WASHINGTON — The recent election of a little-known Reformist as Iran’s next president could keep the door open for diplomacy over the country’s nuclear program should the winner of the US presidential election in November choose to renew talks.
Masoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, former health minister and current member of Parliament, won 53% of the vote in a runoff election Friday to replace Ebrahim Raisi, the ultraconservative former president who died in a May helicopter crash.
Pezeshkian defeated Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who staunchly opposes outreach to the West and whose critics warned he would usher in Taliban-style restrictions on society. By comparison, Pezeshkian is a relative moderate within Iran’s Shiite theocracy and has pledged to ease social restrictions, including enforcement of the hijab requirement for women.
During the brief campaign, Pezeshkian said he would negotiate directly with the United States to lift the sanctions that have taken a major toll on Iran’s economy.
