A new so-called “moderate” Iranian president has been chosen, “voted freely” by the people… or not.
There are two things to know about any presidential election in Iran. Number one, you can have the charade, but any winner in the Iranian presidential elections is handpicked by the Supreme Leader of Iran. If Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doesn’t want you, you are not getting in that slot as Iran’s president. Remember, the supreme leader of Iran is exactly what his name suggests: he is the “supreme leader” who rules over the nation with an iron fist.
The Iranian president is essentially a figurehead in charge of the day-to-day “political game,” and, in some respects, he is the regime’s face to the world. Iran’s new face is Masoud Pezeshkian.
The second thing to know about Iran’s elections is that if the mainstream media is hailing the victor as a “moderate” or “reformist,” then you can bet your bottom dollar that he is anything but. Masoud Pezeshkian keeps to the same old radical standard of every one of his predecessors, including the Butcher of Tehran, Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May alongside Iran’s Foreign Minister.
The mainstream media has swallowed the Kool-Aid. They desperately want some great moderate Iranian reformer to take the helm. We’ve seen this script before.
Mohammad Khatami was Iran’s president from 1997 to 2005. They hailed him as a reformer and a moderate. Hassan Rouhani, who was at the helm from 2013 to 2021, apparently was also a moderate reformer. Khatami and Rouhani were both imams who smiled for the cameras and often cloaked their radical beliefs in more pleasing-sounding language. They knew how to play the game.
Sandwiched in between them was the notorious radical Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2013, and after them, the Butcher of Tehran from 2021 until his demise in May 2024. They are going back and forth. A so-called “moderate reformer” followed by a hardcore fire-breathing radical. Why would Iran do this? Again, it’s all up to the Supreme Leader.
When the supreme leader wants to present a certain face to the world, that will be reflected in the Iranian president. This time around is telling because Iran is sprinting to the finish line in its nuclear program. If they have a fire-breathing radical at the helm, it may result in more scrutiny of the regime.
Masoud Pezeshkian is pretty much a noname with not much of a history. We don’t know a whole lot about him. He’s a 69-year-old heart surgeon, and he hates Israel—more on that in a minute.
Pezeshkian is seen as a more moderate face, and Western diplomats, in addition to their compadres in the mainstream media, are ready to roll out the red carpet, “Gee, look! The Iranian regime has moderated. They’re pretty reasonable. Pezeshkian is a nice guy; they wouldn’t want to develop nuclear weapons!”
This plays right into the regime’s hands. While Pezeshkian grinning at the UN General Assembly and elsewhere in Brussels, the centrifuges are spinning in Iran’s nuclear program.
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