Iran swears in Masoud Pezeshkian as new president | DW News

Iran has sworn in Masoud Pezeshkian as its new president.

Pezeshkian won a snap election earlier this month. His inauguration comes amid growing tensions in the region. The 69-year-old met with leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, and Lebanon's Hezbollah, in the lead up to the ceremony.

Pezeshkian is regarded as a reformist in Iran. With one of the most stark indications being his desire to forge better ties with the West. And during his swearing-in ceremony he promised again to pursue a "constructive and efficient" foreign policy.

Aside from that, he vowed during his campaign to try and revive the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers which collapsed in 2018 after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement.

He's also previously criticized the enforcement of Iran's mandatory hijab laws which require women to cover their head and neck in public and pledged to involve more ethnic minorities in his government.

For more on this, we talk to Middle East expert Daniel Gerlach, who joins us in the studio.

00:00 Inauguration of Masoud Pezeshkian
01:14 Studio talk with Middle East expert Daniel Gerlach