Masoud Pezeshkian

Some Lesser Known Facts About Masoud Pezeshkian

• Masoud Pezeshkian was born to an Azeri father and a Kurdish mother.

• In 1973, he completed a diploma in agriculture and went to Zabol for his military service.

• During his service, Masoud Pezeshkian became interested in medicine.

• After the military, he returned to his home province and entered a medical school, where he graduated with a degree in general medicine.

• During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), Masoud Pezeshkian often visited the front lines, sent medical teams, and worked as a doctor and fighter.

  

• He completed his general practitioner training in 1985 and started teaching physiology at a medical college in Iran.

• After the war, Masoud Pezeshkian continued his education and became a heart surgery specialist.

  

• In 1993, his wife and youngest son died in a car accident. He raised his two remaining sons and daughter alone and never remarried.

• In 1994, Masoud Pezeshkian became president of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, a role he held for five years.

• His political career began in 1997 when he joined Mohammad Khatami’s administration as Deputy Health Minister.

  

• In 2001, Masoud Pezeshkian became the Health Minister of Iran and served until 2005.

• He was elected to the Iranian parliament for five terms from 2008 to 2024, representing Tabriz, Osku, and Azarshahr.

• Masoud Pezeshkian has criticized the Iranian system several times.

• During the 2009 post-election protests, he spoke against how protesters were treated, stating Imam Ali’s advice not to treat people “like a wild animal.”

• Masoud Pezeshkian served as the First Deputy Speaker of the parliament from 2016 to 2020.

• He supports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and has called its form “different from the past.”

• Masoud Pezeshkian has condemned the Trump administration’s 2019 decision to label the IRGC a terrorist organization.

• After the IRGC shot down an American drone in 2019, he called the U.S. government “terrorist” and praised the IRGC’s actions.

• After the 2022 protests, Masoud Pezeshkian called for an investigation into Mahsa Amini’s death and said protesters should have access to lawyers. However, he later condemned the protests, saying they were not in the people’s interest.

• On 6 July 2024, he was elected President after winning the run-off election on 5 July with 16.3 million votes (53.7%) against Saeed Jalili’s 13.5 million votes (44.3%).

  

• Masoud Pezeshkian was appointed as President by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on 28 July 2024, and sworn in before parliament on 30 July.

• After taking office, he appointed Mohammad Eslami as Vice President and head of the Atomic Energy Organization.

• Masoud Pezeshkian reappointed Mohammad Reza Aref, Saeed Ohadi, and Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei to key positions in his administration.

• Former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif became Vice President for Strategic Affairs, while several other former officials took on important roles.

• In June 2024, during a university meeting, Masoud Pezeshkian wore an IRGC uniform and said he would do so again, crediting the IRGC for keeping the country unified.

  

• After the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in July 2024, he requested Khamenei to rethink an attack on Israel, warning of the economic and infrastructure damage to Iran.

  

• Masoud Pezeshkian had disagreements with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who wanted a direct strike on Israel, while he favoured targeting Israeli bases in neighbouring countries to avoid a full-scale war.

• He stated that Iran had the right to take revenge for Israel’s attack.

• On 11 August 2024, Masoud Pezeshkian announced his cabinet of 19 ministers. Soon after, Mohammad Javad Zarif resigned in protest of the cabinet’s composition.

• On 21 August 2024, the parliament approved his entire cabinet, for the first time since 2001.

• The cabinet included ministers selected to satisfy various political factions in Iran.

• Farzaneh Sadegh became the second woman to hold a ministerial position in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. Abbas Araghchi, who helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear deal, also became a part of the cabinet.

• Masoud Pezeshkian made his first international visit as President to Iraq in September 2024.

  

• His visit came during rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. due to attacks between the U.S. and pro-Iranian militias during the Israel-Hamas war.

• Masoud Pezeshkian met with leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan in Erbil during his trip.

• He supports restarting talks with the U.S. to revive the 2015 nuclear deal in exchange for lifting sanctions on Iran.

• Masoud Pezeshkian advocates friendly relations with all countries except Israel and supports the “Axis of Resistance” against it. He also stated that Iran would continue to support Palestinians.

• He emphasizes protecting the rights of ethnic groups like Azeris, Kurds, and Baluchis.

• Masoud Pezeshkian supports enforcing Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution, which allows ethnic groups to use their local languages in media and schools alongside Persian.

• He believes this will reduce separatist tendencies and supports teaching the Azerbaijani language in Iranian schools.

• His daughter, Zahra, has a master’s degree in chemistry from Sharif University of Technology and worked at Jam Petrochemical before the Rouhani government.

  

• Masoud Pezeshkian is a teacher of the Quran and recites Nahj al-Balagha, an important text for Shia Muslims.

• He speaks several languages including Persian, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Arabic, and English.

• Masoud Pezeshkian is a fan of Tractor S.C., a football club.