The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on his election as Iran’s president, according to a report by the state news agency SPA.
The Saudi leaders, while congratulating Masoud Pezeshkian, who won the 14th presidential election expressed their hope that this development would lead to strengthening relations between the two countries in a way that served their interests.
This gesture comes despite the long-standing tensions and rivalry between the two regional powers.
“We look forward to deepening the relations between our countries and peoples, and to cooperating to enhance regional and international security and peace,” SPA quoted King Salman as saying.
“I affirm my keenness on developing and deepening relations between our countries and people and serving our mutual interests,” SPA quoted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as saying.
Masoud Pezeshkian Iran’s new president
Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist and former Health Minister of Iran, won the 14th presidential election on Saturday by beating his rival, Saeed Jalili, local media reported.
Masoud Pezeshkian got 16,384,402 of the total 30,573,931 votes in the runoff, reports Iran International News.
The voter turnout, however, stood at 49.8 percent, relatively lower than the first phase of the elections, as over 50 per cent of the eligible voters boycotted the elections.
Iran went to the polls on June 28, and the next day, spokesman of Iran’s Election Headquarters Mohsen Eslami announced the results for the first phase, in which Pezeshkian garnered 42.6 per cent of the total votes, while Jalili got 38.8 percent.
Iran’s 14th presidential election, which had initially been set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.
