Pezeshkian Calls His Rival 'Inexperienced and Dangerous'; Zarif: We Know People Are Discouraged

Masoud Pezeshkian, in his first statement after advancing to the second round of Iran's presidential elections, described his rival and his team as 'untrustworthy, inexperienced, and dangerous.' He invited Iranian citizens to participate in the second round of elections by posting an image of the heroic farmer on social media platform X. Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Zarif, former foreign minister of Iran and advisor to Mr. Pezeshkian, acknowledged the 'discouragement' of many in Iranian society regarding changes through the ballot box, stating that U.S. sanctions against Iran would only be lifted if the next government is backed by a high voter turnout. According to statistics from the Ministry of Interior's election headquarters, the participation rate in the first round of the 14th presidential election in Iran was 39.9%, the lowest in the history of such elections in the country. In this context, Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist candidate, advanced to the next stage with 10,415,191 votes, while Saeed Jalili, the hardline principlist candidate, followed with 9,473,298 votes, continuing the competition with Mr. Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian, in his statement, referred to Jalili's ideas as 'dangerous' and 'fantastical' without mentioning his name, praising citizens who rejected these ideas with their votes as having done 'something great and commendable.' He then stated that 'the work of citizens is not yet finished, and if we do nothing, conditions may get even worse.' Mr. Pezeshkian added, 'We must ward off disaster and insure ourselves. We need to wake up and accept that what may happen is not a joke; untrustworthy, inexperienced, and dangerous individuals could turn Iran into the largest laboratory of bizarre ideas!' Saeed Jalili is known as a staunch opponent of the nuclear agreement with world powers, known as the JCPOA. During the presidential candidates' debates, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, another principlist candidate, revealed Jalili's active role in opposing Iran's accession to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), stating that he did not want this to happen during Hassan Rouhani's administration. Ultimately, Iran joined the FATF blacklist, creating costly obstacles for Iran's financial transactions. On Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has given multiple speeches in support of Pezeshkian, also apologized to the Iranian people, admitting that he had made mistakes, although he did not specify what those mistakes were, only stating, 'You deserved better than this.' Mr. Zarif added, 'Today I declare that we know you are discouraged. We understand that you are worried about Iran's future and think that this future will not change with your choice, but as your servant, I say that it makes a big difference, and if sanctions are to be lifted and pressures alleviated, the next government must rely on a high voter turnout so that no foreigner can threaten an Iranian.' The second round of Iran's presidential elections, to determine the successor to Ebrahim Raisi, is scheduled for this coming Friday. Meanwhile, opponents and critics of the Islamic Republic interpret the 60% non-participation rate in the elections as a 'big no' to the Islamic Republic.