ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday felicitated Masoud Pezeshkian for his election as the president of Iran.
Reformist candidate Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election on Saturday, besting Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law.
A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election.
Sharif congratulated Pezeshkian on X and said he looked forward to working closely with the president-elect to further strengthen Pakistan-Iran bilateral ties and promote regional peace and stability
“As neighboring countries, Pakistan & Iran enjoy a close & historic relationship. We must ensure a bright future for our two peoples through mutually beneficial cooperation,” the Pakistan premier said.
In a separate statement, President Zardari extended his felicitations to Pezeshkian and expressed confidence that Pakistan-Iran relations would grow further stronger under his leadership.
“Pakistan looks forward to working together with Iran for the peace and prosperity of the region,” Zardari said.
On Saturday, Pezeshkian supporters entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator.
But Pezeshkian’s win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Middle East over the Israel war on Gaza, Iran’s advancing nuclear program, and a looming US election that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.
