ईरान में मसूद पजशकियान ने ली राष्ट्रपति पद की शपथ: कुरान पढ़ाई, इराक से जंग लड़ी; राष्ट्रपति रईसी की मौत के बाद मिली सत्ता

Before becoming President, Masoud Pazshkian was an MP from Tabriz city of Iran and the country’s Health Minister.

In Iran, Masoud Pazhakian has taken oath as the 9th President of the country. Pazhakian’s swearing-in ceremony was held in the Iranian Parliament on Tuesday. Leaders of many countries including India and Pakistan participated in it.

While India was led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar attended the ceremony. Pazshkian defeated hardline leader Saeed Jalili by 30 lakh votes in the presidential election held on July 5.

Presidential elections were announced in the country after the death of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19. The first phase of voting in Iran took place on May 28. In this, no candidate was able to get 50% votes, which is necessary to win the election. However, Pazashkian came first with 42.5% votes and Jalili came second with 38.8% votes.

According to Iran’s constitution, if no candidate gets a majority in the first round, then the next round of voting takes place between the top 2 candidates. The candidate who gets the majority in this becomes the next president of the country.

He entered politics after the death of his wife and daughter…
Masoud Pazashkian was born in 1954 to a Kurdish mother. He was born in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province. This is the same area where people who fled from Baghdad in fear of Timur had taken refuge.

Masood also served in the army during the reign of King Reza Shah of Iran. When Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein attacked Iran in 1980, Masood treated the wounded during the war. After the war, he became an expert in cardiac surgery.

The worst phase of his life came in 1994. His wife and one daughter died in a car accident. Despite pressure from his family, he refused to remarry. He raised his children alone.

In his Twitter bio, he describes himself as a husband, father and grandfather. Pazashkian entered politics three years after his wife’s death. He became the Health Minister during the tenure of Iran’s then President Mohammad Khatami.

Pazshkian is greatly influenced by Khatami’s ideas. Khatami was also a moderate leader. He had also abolished Iran’s fatwa against Salman Rushdie. However, in 2019 Khamenei reactivated that fatwa.

Pazashkian with his family, he has a daughter and 2 sons.

Opponents of hijab in a Muslim country talk about women’s freedom
Pazashkian is close to former President Hassan Rouhani. He has opposed the hijab several times in debates. He says that no one has the right to moral policing.

After the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, there was opposition to hijab in Iran. Then Pazshkian, going against the Iranian government, said in an interview, “This is our mistake. We want to impose our religious beliefs through force. This is not scientifically possible.”

Pazshkian had said, “I, along with religious scholars and mosques, are all responsible for what is happening in the country. Instead of catching a girl and killing her, everyone will have to come forward and take responsibility for bringing about change.”

In 2022, he used the song of Iranian women’s freedom – ‘Aurat, Zindagi, Azadi’ in his rally. This song is from the campaign ‘Baraaye’ run for women’s freedom in Iran.

Inspired by ‘Baraee’, Pazashkian named his campaign ‘Baraee Iran’ i.e. ‘For the Love of Iran’. This campaign demands kissing and dancing in public places. Experts believe that even though Pazashkian is a supporter of women’s freedom, he will not be able to do anything without the approval of Supreme Leader Khamenei.

In 2012, Pazhakian was barred from contesting elections
Pazashkian first became an MP from Tabriz in 2006. He considers America his enemy. In 2011, he registered to contest for the presidential election. In 2012, Pazashkian and other candidates were banned to make Raisi the president.

Anti-hijab protests have occurred across Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.

Will Pazshkian be able to bring any change in Iran?
According to an expert lawyer of the American think tank Chatham House, Pazhakian is more moderate than other Iranian presidents. This will make it easier for him to deal with Western countries. He can get some concessions from the US in the sanctions imposed on Iran due to its nuclear program.

Pazshkian emphasizes on implementing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Iran and adopting policies to lift the economic sanctions of Western countries. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an organization that monitors money laundering and terror funding.

It prevents its member countries from engaging in activities like terror funding and money laundering. Iran has been on the FATF blacklist since 2019. Because of this, IMF, ADB, World Bank or any financial body does not help Iran financially.

As soon as he becomes the President, there is a possibility of immediate changes in Iran’s social policies. Pazhakian has come to power at a time when war is going on in the Middle East. Iran is being accused of fighting a proxy war with Israel through Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

However, Pazhakian’s stand on Israel is the same as that of his predecessors. In such a situation, there will be no significant impact on the relations between the two.