Masoud Pezeshkian
Iran's president (since 2024)
Background
Masoud Pezeshkian has served as the ninth president of Iran since 2024 and is the country’s head of state and government under the Islamic Republic’s constitutional system. He is responsible for leading the executive branch, representing Iran in major domestic and foreign policy matters, and overseeing state institutions through the presidency. In Russian affairs, he matters because Iran is a key regional partner and counterpart for Moscow, and his presidency has been associated with continued high-level contact on security and diplomatic questions, including discussions involving the Iran conflict.
Born on 29 September 1954 in Mahabad in West Azerbaijan, Pezeshkian came from an Iranian Azerbaijani and Iranian Kurdish family and trained in medicine at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. He worked as a heart surgeon and served as a doctor for Iranian soldiers during the Iran–Iraq War before entering government service. His political career began in 1997, when he joined Mohammad Khatami’s administration as Deputy Health Minister, then he served as Minister of Health and Medical Education from 2001 to 2005, and later held governor positions in Piranshahr and Naghadeh counties. He was elected to the Iranian parliament five times between 2008 and 2024, represented the Tabriz, Osku and Azarshahr electoral district, and served as First Deputy Speaker from 2016 to 2020.
Pezeshkian is identified with Iran’s reformist faction and won the 2024 presidential election after earlier unsuccessful or aborted bids in 2013 and 2021. He took office at age 69, making him the oldest person to hold the presidency. His presidency has been associated with support for the “Axis of Resistance” in the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, the October 2024 Iranian strikes on Israel, and efforts to revive an agreement with the United States over Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Following the assassination of Ali Khamenei on 1 March 2026, he served ex officio on the Interim Leadership Council under the constitution.
Documents
Remarks by Yuri Ushakov, Assistant to the President of Russia, Following a Telephone Conversation Between Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump
Putin and Trump held an hour-long call covering the Iran conflict, Ukraine ceasefire prospects, and Venezuela's impact on global oil markets, their first since December 2025.