Masoud Pezeshkian is a man of contradictions. Honestly, if you looked at his resume without knowing the country, you’d think he was a Western-style progressive. He’s a heart surgeon. He’s a widower who raised three kids alone. He speaks about ethnic rights and the "wrongness" of hitting women for not wearing a piece of cloth. But then you see him in the olive-green uniform of the Revolutionary Guard, and reality hits.
He’s the President of Iran, but he’s also a cog in a machine that doesn't like to change.
Since taking office in July 2024, Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to walk a tightrope that is currently on fire. He walked into the presidency after Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash, inheriting a country that was basically an economic tinderbox. By early 2026, that tinderbox has exploded. If you’ve been following the news lately, you know the streets of Tehran and Mashhad are once again filled with people who are tired of being broke.
The Surgeon in the High Seat
People often ask if Pezeshkian is actually "in charge." It's a fair question. In Iran, the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, holds the remote control. The President is more like the guy trying to fix the antenna while the Supreme Leader decides what channel everyone watches.
Pezeshkian is a reformist, or at least that’s the label he wears. He’s 71 now. He’s the oldest person to ever hold the job. That age brings a certain kind of "I've seen it all" energy that the younger hardliners hate. He actually spent the 1980s as a doctor on the front lines of the Iran-Iraq war. He’s seen what happens when things go south.
Why his personal story matters
You can’t understand the guy without knowing about 1994. That’s the year his wife, Fatemeh Majidi, and one of his children died in a car crash. He never remarried. In a political culture where family life is often a curated PR stunt, his choice to raise his surviving daughter and two sons solo earned him a weird kind of respect across the board. It made him look human.
But "human" doesn't pay the bills.
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The Iranian Rial has been in a freefall. After the "12-Day War" with Israel in mid-2025, the economy basically flatlined. Pezeshkian’s 2026 budget was a disaster for his PR. He tried to raise security spending by 150% while only giving workers a tiny raise that didn't even cover half of the inflation rate. People noticed.
The 2026 Protests and the "Middle Path"
Right now, Iran is facing what some are calling the biggest threat to the regime since the 1979 revolution. It started on December 28, 2025. Protests hit all 31 provinces.
Pezeshkian’s response has been... different.
Unlike his predecessor, who usually went straight for the "iron fist" approach, Pezeshkian has been trying to play the "I hear you" card. He’s gone on TV and told people that the government is responsible for the unbearable cost of living. He even hinted that corruption is baked into the system.
"Don't blame America," he said. "It's we who must manage our problems."
That’s a wild thing for an Iranian president to say. Usually, everything is the "Great Satan’s" fault. But here’s the kicker: while he talks about dialogue, the arrests are still happening. Over 2,000 people have been picked up since the New Year. He’s trapped between his reformist promises and the hardline judges who want to crush any dissent.
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Foreign Policy: A War Nobody Wanted
The Iran-Israel war of 2025 changed everything for his presidency. Pezeshkian reportedly didn't want it. There are leaks suggesting he pleaded with Khamenei to avoid a direct strike on Israel, fearing the exact economic collapse we’re seeing right now. He lost that argument.
Israel hit back hard. They disabled air defenses. They hit nuclear infrastructure.
Now, Pezeshkian is trying to pick up the pieces with a new US administration. Donald Trump is back in the White House, and the "Maximum Pressure" vibe is returning. Pezeshkian is still trying to talk about the JCPOA (the nuclear deal) because he knows that without sanctions relief, his government is Toast. Capital T.
What's actually happening on the ground?
- The Relocation Rumor: Pezeshkian actually suggested moving the capital from Tehran to the Gulf of Oman because of water shortages and pollution. People think he’s joking. He’s not.
- The Internet Blackout: Despite promising more digital freedom, the 2026 protests have seen some of the strictest internet shutdowns in years.
- The Cabinet Resignations: Javad Zarif, the guy who helped with the original nuclear deal, quit early on because Pezeshkian’s cabinet was too "middle of the road" and didn't include enough women or minorities.
The Ethnic Factor
Pezeshkian is part Azeri and part Kurdish. This is huge. Iran is a patchwork of ethnicities, and the central government is usually dominated by Persians. By speaking Azeri in the Majlis (Parliament) and advocating for ethnic languages in schools, he tapped into a massive voter base that usually stays home.
But being an ethnic minority in power is a double-edged sword. If he pushes too hard for Azeri or Kurdish rights, the hardliners accuse him of "separatism." If he doesn't push enough, his own people call him a sellout.
Is he failing?
It depends on who you ask. If you’re a merchant in the Tehran bazaar, you probably hate his new tax laws. If you’re a student, you’re frustrated that the "morality police" haven't totally vanished, even if they’ve lowered their profile slightly.
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The truth is, Masoud Pezeshkian is a "manager of decline." He isn't there to revolutionize the system; he was brought in to save it from itself. The Supreme Leader let him win because the system needed a safety valve. Someone to talk to the West. Someone to tell the protesters "I feel your pain" so they don't burn the whole building down.
But the 2026 protests suggest the valve might be stuck.
How to follow Iranian developments
If you want to keep an eye on where Pezeshkian goes from here, you need to look past the official state media. Watch the exchange rate of the Rial. When that drops, the protests grow. Watch the "Axis of Resistance" movements in Lebanon and Syria—if Pezeshkian can’t fund them, his relationship with the IRGC will turn from "tense" to "combative."
Next Steps for Tracking Iranian Policy:
- Monitor the Rial-to-USD rate: This is the most accurate "approval rating" for any Iranian president.
- Follow the IAEA reports: Any shift in Pezeshkian’s nuclear rhetoric usually signals a back-channel deal with the US.
- Watch the Friday Prayers: In Iran, the real policy shifts are often announced by clerics in these weekly sermons before they ever hit the President's desk.
The next few months will decide if Masoud Pezeshkian is the man who saved the Islamic Republic or the one who presided over its most chaotic chapter yet.