Who is the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian A brief about his life
Who is the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian A brief about his life
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00:00Massoud Pazeshkian, born 29 September 1954, is an Iranian politician and cardiac surgeon
00:16who has been the president of Iran since 28 July 2024.
00:21He previously represented Tabriz, Asghar and Asghar Shah electoral district in the parliament
00:27of Iran, and served as its first deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020.
00:33He was Minister of Health and Medical Education between 2001 and 2005 in the government of
00:39Mohammad Khotami.
00:41He ran in the 2013 presidential election, but withdrew.
00:45He ran again in the 2021 election, but was unsuccessful.
00:50For the 2024 election, Pazeshkian's candidacy was approved, and he won the 2024 presidential
00:57election on 5 July in a run-off with 54.76% of the popular vote.
01:04He was formally appointed as the President of Iran on 28 July 2024.
01:10He is the ninth and the oldest person to take the office of President of Iran.
01:15At the age of 69 years, Pazeshkian was born in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan, on 29 September
01:241954 to Iranian-Azerbaijani parents.
01:28In 1973, he received his diploma and moved to Zabul to serve his conscription duty.
01:35It was during this time that he became interested in medicine.
01:39After completing his service, he returned to his home province, where he entered medical
01:43school and graduated with a degree in general medicine.
01:48During the Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988, Pazeshkian frequently visited the front lines, where
01:55he was responsible for sending medical teams and working as a fighter and doctor.
02:00He finished his general practitioner course in 1985 and started teaching physiology at
02:06the medical college.
02:08After the war, Pazeshkian continued his education, specializing in general surgery at Tabriz
02:14University of Medical Sciences.
02:17In 1993, he received a subspecialty in cardiac surgery from Iran University of Medical Sciences.
02:25He later became a specialist in heart surgery, leading him to become President of Tabriz
02:30University of Medical Sciences in 1994, a position he held for five years.
02:37Pazeshkian's political career began when he joined Mohammed Khatami's administration
02:42as deputy health minister in 1997.
02:46He was appointed health minister four years later, serving from 2001 to 2005.
02:52Since then, he has been elected to the Iranian parliament five times, representing Tabriz,
02:58and served as the first deputy speaker of the parliament from 2016 to 2020.
03:04On 6 July 2024, Pazeshkian was elected president after winning the 5 July runoff of the 2024
03:12presidential election, with 16.3 million votes, 53.7% to cede Jalali's 13.5 million 44.3%.
03:23He was formally appointed as the president by the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei
03:28on 28 July 2024, and was sworn in before the Iranian parliament on 30 July.
03:36After taking office, Pazeshkian appointed the former first vice president of Iran Mohammed
03:41Reza Araf back to his post, while appointing former education minister Mohsen Haji Merzeh
03:47as his chief of staff, former foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif as the vice president
03:53for strategic affairs, Mohammed Jafar Ghiyam Pana as the vice president for executive
03:59affairs, former finance minister Ali Tayabniyya as his senior advisor, Hamid Pourmohammadi
04:06as vice president and head of the plan and budget organization, and Shahram Dabiri Askiwi
04:13as his deputy for parliamentary affairs.
04:16Massoud Pazeshkian is a supporter of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-ERG, and has called
04:22its current incarnation different from the past.
04:25He condemned the declaration of the ERG as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration
04:30in 2019.
04:32After the 2019 Iranian shoot-down of an American drone Pazeshkian called the American government
04:38terrorist and described the ERG's action to target the drone as a strong punch to the
04:43mouths of the leaders of criminal America.
04:46During a university meeting and in response to some criticisms Pazeshkian put on an ERG
04:52uniform and said that he would wear it again.
04:55Massoud Pazeshkian has criticized the Iranian system multiple times.
05:00During the 2009 post-election protests, in a speech Pazeshkian criticized the way the
05:06protesters were treated.
05:08In his speech, he mentioned the words of the first Shiite imam, Ali addressed to Malik
05:14Ashtar not to treat people like a wild animal.
05:17Pazeshkian considered Iran's method of managing the 2018 protests as scientifically and intellectually
05:24wrong.
05:25He blamed the country's system for all the events and said, we should have done better.
05:31After the 2022 protests, Pazeshkian demanded the creation of an assessment and clarification
05:37team regarding the death of Masa Amini.
05:40Although he considered the way of dealing with the protesters and their trial to be
05:44contrary to the constitution and demanded that the defendants should get lawyers.
05:50He later issued a statement, condemned the protests and did not consider it to be in
05:55the people's interest.
05:57Pazeshkian has supported restarting discussions with the United States over the nuclear program
06:02of Iran, vowing to revive the agreement Iran reached with the US and other world powers
06:09in 2015 in exchange for lifting the international sanctions against it.
06:14He has supported building amicable relationships with all countries except for Israel, stating
06:20that Iran would keep supporting the axis of resistance against it.
06:25After taking office as president, he stated that Iran would continue to support the Palestinians.
06:31Masaad Pazeshkian emphasizes the rights of ethnic groups such as Azeris, Kurds, and Baluchis
06:38in states, that the rights of these groups should be protected.
06:42He supports the implementation of Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution for all ethnicities.
06:48This principle says the official and common language and script of the people of Iran
06:52is Persian.
06:54Documents, correspondence, official texts and textbooks must be in this language and
06:59script, but the use of local and ethnic languages in the press and mass media and the teaching
07:04of their literature in schools is free, along with the Persian language.
07:08He argues that the implementation of this principle mitigates separatist and dissident
07:13motivations.
07:14Masaad Pazeshkian also supports teaching of the Azerbaijani language in Iranian schools.
07:20Masaad Pazeshkian wife was a gynecologist.
07:23In 1993, she died along with their youngest son in a car crash.
07:28He raised his remaining two sons and daughter alone and has never remarried.
07:33His daughter, Zahra, has a master's degree in chemistry from Sharif University of Technology
07:38and was working at Jam Petrochemical before the Rouhani government came to power.
07:43She is also regarded as a political advisor.
07:47Masaad Pazeshkian is a teacher of the Quran and a reciter of the Naj al-Balagha, a key
07:52text for Shia Muslims.
07:54In addition to Persian, Masaad Pazeshkian speaks many languages, including Azerbaijani,
07:59Kurdish, Arabic and English.
08:02Masaad Pazeshkian is a fan of Tractor SC.
08:07I stop at this point today.
08:09I hope I added something to you.
08:11You enjoyed the last few minutes.
08:13We will meet with you soon.