NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on being elected as the newly elected President of Iran. In his message, PM Modi expressed his willingness to work with President Pezeshkian to strengthen and deepen the long-standing ties between India and Iran.
In a post on X, PM Modi said, “Congratulations to @drpezeshkian on being elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relations for the benefit of our two peoples and the region.”
Iran is considered an important strategic ally of India, and the two countries signed a deal in May on the Chabahar port aimed at countering Pakistan and China, giving India control of the port for the next 10 years.
Reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon, won Iran’s presidential elections on Saturday, defeating hardline candidate Saeed Jalili with more than 53.3% of the more than 30 million votes counted. The elections were held following the tragic death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.
Pezechkian has vowed to pursue a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over stalled negotiations with major powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and expand opportunities for social liberalization and political pluralism.
Pezeshkian won more than 16.3 million of the 30.5 million votes counted in Friday’s runoff election, beating his ultra-conservative rival Said Djalili, who won more than 13.5 million votes.
The Interior Ministry’s Election Headquarters announced that turnout was 49.8%, the lowest since Iran’s presidential elections were first held in 1979.
Pezeshkian, who topped the first round of voting and went on to win the second, will take office at a time when Iran is increasingly isolated from the international community and is embroiled in domestic unrest, economic weakness and potential conflict with Israel.
The early elections were triggered by a tragic helicopter crash in a remote area of northwestern Iran in May, which killed President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and other senior government officials.
In a post on X, PM Modi said, “Congratulations to @drpezeshkian on being elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relations for the benefit of our two peoples and the region.”
Iran is considered an important strategic ally of India, and the two countries signed a deal in May on the Chabahar port aimed at countering Pakistan and China, giving India control of the port for the next 10 years.
Reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon, won Iran’s presidential elections on Saturday, defeating hardline candidate Saeed Jalili with more than 53.3% of the more than 30 million votes counted. The elections were held following the tragic death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.
Pezechkian has vowed to pursue a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over stalled negotiations with major powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and expand opportunities for social liberalization and political pluralism.
Pezeshkian won more than 16.3 million of the 30.5 million votes counted in Friday’s runoff election, beating his ultra-conservative rival Said Djalili, who won more than 13.5 million votes.
The Interior Ministry’s Election Headquarters announced that turnout was 49.8%, the lowest since Iran’s presidential elections were first held in 1979.
Pezeshkian, who topped the first round of voting and went on to win the second, will take office at a time when Iran is increasingly isolated from the international community and is embroiled in domestic unrest, economic weakness and potential conflict with Israel.
The early elections were triggered by a tragic helicopter crash in a remote area of northwestern Iran in May, which killed President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and other senior government officials.
