dpa
Tehran
Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday received his certificate of appointment after being elected as the new president of Iran.
He received the certificate and a blessing from the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was thus declared the ninth president of the Islamic republic.
The ceremony in the Khomeini Mosque in the capital Tehran was attended by the country’s political elite as well as numerous foreign diplomats.
Pezeshkian will be officially sworn in in parliament on Tuesday. He will then also introduce his vice presidents and Cabinet members.
Pezeshkian, who is considered a moderate, won a presidential run-off election at the beginning of July against the hardline candidate Said Jalili.
However, according to Iran’s constitution, Khamenei is the political and religious head of state and has the final say in all strategic matters.
The early election was called after the death of previous incumbent Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.
Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon and former lawmaker, is considered loyal to the system, but he promised domestic and foreign policy reforms during the election campaign.
"We have awakened new hope in the people, which we must not turn into renewed hopelessness,” said the new president.