Will be Inaugurated as Iran's President Next Week, Masoud Pezeshkian Wants to Prevent Differences and Tensions

Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian. (WIkimedia Commons/Tasnim News Agency/Hamedupour)

JAKARTA - Masoud Pezeshkian will be sworn in as Iran's ninth president next month, after winning last week's election, a lawmaker said, according to state news agency IRNA.

"The presidential inauguration ceremony will be held on August 4 or 5," Mojtaba Yousefi, a member of parliament's leadership council, was quoted as saying by The National News on July 8.

"The president will have 15 days to submit his ministerial nominees to parliament," he added.

Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and former health minister, won the runoff election on Friday, beating former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. The reformist candidate won 16,384,403 votes compared to 13,538,179 for his rival.

Election officials said turnout was 49.8 percent, up from a record low of about 40 percent in the first round.

In his first public remarks after the results were announced on Saturday, President Pezeshkian vowed to focus on “promoting dialogue” and “national reconciliation” in Iran, while also addressing ongoing economic, social, cultural and political issues, state news agency Press TV reported.

Pezeshkian said he wanted to enhance cooperation between parliament and the judiciary “to prevent dissent and tension in the country”.

“Let us all take steps together to secure the national interests of the country and open up the horizons of sustainable development and all-round progress of Iran,” he said.

Previously, Pezeshkian during the campaign called for "constructive relations" with western countries to "bring Iran out of its isolation". He supported the restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which could lead to the lifting of sanctions on the Iranian economy.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Pezeshkian on his victory, urging him to "continue in the footsteps of the late martyr President Ebrahim Raisi and use the country's various capacities, especially the revolutionary and faithful youth, for the comfort of the people and the progress of the country".