DNA
Tehran – Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn before parliament on Tuesday as the Islamic republic’s ninth president at a ceremony attended by foreign dignitaries. Pezeshkian won a runoff race against Saeed Jalili on July 5 to replace president Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash in May. Tuesday’s ceremony came two days after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei officially endorsed Pezeshkian and gave the 69-year-old heart surgeon presidential powers. “I as the president, in front of the Holy Koran and the people of Iran, swear to almighty God to be the guardian of the official religion and the Islamic Republic system and the constitution of the country,” Pezeshkian said at the ceremony which was broadcast live on state TV. Pezeshkian, who is expected to unveil his government within two weeks, had secured more than 16 million votes during the runoff, or about 54 percent of the roughly 30 million ballots cast.
