Masoud Pezeshkian a reform advocate and Heart surgeon has been declared the winner of the presidential runoff election in Iran.
The lawmaker defeated hard fighting rival Saeed Jalili.
Pezeshkian has already promised to reach out to the West for reforms to reposition Iran for advancement of the islamic country.
“By gaining a majority of the votes cast on Friday, Pezeshkian has become Iran’s next president,” the country’s Ministry of Interior said on Saturday.
Pezeshkian got 53.7 percent of the votes, or 16.3 million; while Jalili received 44.3 percent or 13.5 million.
Pezeshkian said in his first public comments after the results were announced that he is not a winner-takes-it-all victory.
“We are all people of this country; we will use everyone for the progress of the country,” he said on state television.
Not long after the declaration of results, Jalili conceded defeat, asking Iranians to respect the president-elect.
“Not only should he be respected, but now we must use all our strength and help him move forward,” he said on television.
Participation in the election was 49.8 percent in the tight race between Pezeshkian and Jalili.
The run-off on Friday followed a June 28 ballot for a successor to Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash in May.
