According to IRNA reporter, the USA Today on its website about Iran's presidential election and the victory of Pezeshkian wrote: A little-known heart surgeon who campaigned on limited, closer ties with the West and some reforms in domestic laws, won Iran's runoff presidential vote.
Cautious reformer Pezeshkian, 69, defeated Saeed Jalili, 58, a conservative and former nuclear negotiator, the report added.
“The victory represents a blow to the conservative political factions", the American media said claiming that "in recent years, moderate voices have been left aside in Iran."
USA TODAY went on to say that Pezeshkian is expected to have little immediate impact on the Islamic Republic's policies but since the new president will likely run the government day-to-day basis, he can influence the overall tone of Iran's domestic and foreign policy. “Pezeshkian, the former Minister of Health, during his election campaign, called for constructive negotiations with the West over the nuclear deal”.
USA TODAY further stated that this presidential election in Iran took place in the midst of internal and external tensions. The election coincides with the escalation in the Middle East due to Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran is also facing increased pressure from the West over its nuclear program.
Ali Vaez, an expert on Iran at the International Crisis Group, a Belgium-headquartered think tank, said that Pezeshkian's win does not mean that the West is "going to be optimistic about the prospect of diplomatic engagement with Iran. The challenges are enormous, and the solutions to those challenges are not obvious."
He said that one of the main determining factors in whether there is a renewed push for diplomacy with the West, including putting new effort into resuming a 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, is not what happens in Iran's elections but rather what happens in the U.S. elections in November.
"Even if there is another Biden administration resolving this is going to be extremely difficult," Vaez said, referring to the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran's nuclear program is now "too advanced to be able to put back in a box. The sanctions are too complex to be easily rolled back. And world powers are now more divided."
The JCPOA was brokered under former US President Barack Obama, when Biden was vice president. But the landmark and hardly-fought deal was unilaterally nixed by Obama’s successor Donald Trump who even re-imposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to take its own measures in retaliation for the non-compliance of the deal by the West, the US in particular.
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