“I encourage him to make the best use of the abundant capacities of the country - especially our young, revolutionary, faithful human resources - for the well-being of the people and the progress of the country,” read the message from Khamenei.
Addressing the needs of a disaffected youth population is one of the challenges Pezeshkian will face as president.
Iran’s economy has plummeted in recent years. The depreciation of its currency, the COVID pandemic, and crippling United States sanctions have resulted in mass unemployment and accelerating inflation rates, driving thousands of people, mostly youth, to migrate out of the country.
Around 65,000 people emigrate from Iran on a yearly basis, mostly well-educated individuals seeking to continue their studies or more generally on a quest for a higher quality of life abroad, according to the Tehran-based independent outlet Donya-e-Eqtesad, which predicted the number will increase in the coming years.
Hundreds of thousands of youth participated in the 2022 nationwide protests triggered by the death-in-custody of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini. What started initially as a call for greater freedoms for women turned into full-blown anti-government nationwide and international protests with calls for revolution. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested as authorities in Iran launched a brutal crackdown on dissent.
The shrinking economy has also been a contributing factor in the increase in Iran’s suicide rate over the past ten years, going from five to seven deaths per 100,000 people, according to official statistics. Around 120,000 suicide attempts were reported across Iran in 2023, according to suicide prevention activists.
Pezeshkian, 69, emerged victorious from Friday’s run-off presidential election with over 53 percent of the votes, besting his ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili. The election went to a run-off after none of the candidates were able to gain an absolute majority in the first round.
Khamenei claimed that “free” and “transparent” elections were held across both rounds and referred to the turnout rate as a “shining, unforgettable endeavor” in the face of calls for a boycott that he claimed were devised by Tehran’s enemies.
The turnout in Friday’s runoff was 49.8 percent, a jump from the 39.9 percent of voters who cast a ballot in the first round, which was the country’s lowest recorded turnout since the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979.
The vote was originally scheduled for 2025, but it was brought forward after former president Ebarhim Raisi died in May in a helicopter crash alongside several companions including late Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
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