KUWAIT CITY, July 6, (Agencies): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent a cable of congratulations to newly elected President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday. His Highness wished Pezeshkian a long healthy life and more prosperity and development for the Islamic Republic. His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al- Sabah also sent a cable of congratulations to the newly-elected President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday. His Highness also wished Pezeshkian a long healthy life and more prosperity and development for the Islamic Republic.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah sent a similar cable of congratulations on Saturday to newly elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian. Reformer Masoud Pezeshkian won the Iranian presidential elections for a four-year term, beating Ali Khamenei’s representative Saeed Jalili. In a press conference on Saturday, spokesperson of the electoral committee Mohsen Islami said Pezeshkian received 16.384 million votes, while Jalili received 13.530 million votes, out of a total of 30.5 million votes inside the country and abroad. The rate of participation in the second round of the elections was 49.8 percent, Islami noted.

Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator. “Dear people of Iran, the elections are over and this is just the beginning of our cooperation,” Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X, still banned in Iran. “The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy and trust. I extend my hand to you and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path. Do not leave me alone.”

Pezeshkian’s win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war, Iran’s advancing nuclear program, and a looming election in the United States that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk. Pezeshkian’s victory also wasn’t a rout of Jalili, meaning he’ll have to carefully navigate Iran’s internal politics as the doctor has never held a sensitive, high-level security post. The first round of voting June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country’s Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran’s economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent. Government officials up to Khameni, the supreme leader, predicted higher turnout as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers.

However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in Tehran saw light traffic and a heavy security presence on the streets. Authorities put the turnout in Friday’s vote at 49.6%, still historically low for an Iranian presidential election. They counted 607,575 voided votes - which often are a sign of protest by those who feel obligated to cast a ballot but reject both candidates. “I don’t expect anything from him - I am happy that the vote put the brake on hard-liners,” said bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Pezeshkian. “I hope Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow.” Taher Khalili, a Kurdish-origin Iranian who runs a small tailor shop in Tehran, offered another reason to be hopeful while handing out candy to passersby.