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July 8, 2024

Iran Elects More Moderate Candidate Masoud Pezeshkian as New President
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Voters in Iran have elected Masoud Pezeshkian as its new president. The
reformist candidate defeated hard-liner Saeed Jalili on Saturday.
Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon who had served as health minister under
reformist President Mohammad Khatami. Pezeshkian has criticized Iran's
mandatory hijab law for women and has promised to disband Iran's
morality police. He spoke in Tehran on Saturday.

President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian: "I consider your vote as a heavy
responsibility on my shoulders, and I pledge to continue to be a
listening ear for your words and a voice for the voiceless and the
rejected."

Saturday's election was held six weeks after Iranian President Ebrahim
Raisi died in a helicopter crash. We will have more on the election
later in the show.


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