Masoud Pezeshkian
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Masoud Pezeshkian (born 29 September 1954) is an Iranian politician who is the ninth and current president of Iran since 2024. A member of the reformist faction, he is the oldest person to serve in this position, taking office at the age of 69. Born in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan, to an Iranian Azerbaijani family, Pezeshkian graduated from the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences with a degree in medicine and served as a doctor for Iranian soldiers in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988). Pezeshkian served as governor of Piranshahr and Naghadeh counties and his political career began in 1997 when he joined Mohammad Khatami's administration as Deputy Health Minister. He served as Minister of Health and Medical Education from 2001 to 2005. He was later elected to the parliament five times, representing Tabriz, Osku and Azarshahr electoral district, from 2008 to 2024. During this time, Pezeshkian was also First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament from 2016 to 2020. Prior to the 2024 presidential election, he enrolled himself in two previous elections, the 2013 election, in which he withdrew, and the 2021 election, in which he was rejected from running. Presenting himself as a moderate, he won the election against principlist nominee Saeed Jalili. Pezeshkian began his presidency by continuing support for the Axis of Resistance in the Iran–Israel proxy conflict. He presided over the October 2024 Iranian strikes on Israel in response to Israel's assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian military officer Abbas Nilforoushan. Pezeshkian hoped to revive the agreement with the United States regarding Iran's nuclear program, in exchange for lifting the international sanctions against it. However, following the 2025 Israeli strikes on Iran that included an unsuccessful attempt on his life, he presided over the Iranian retaliatory strikes, and tensions escalated into the Iran–Israel war.