Iran's president-elect to be inaugurated in early August: lawmaker

TEHRAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian is set to be inaugurated in early August, according to a senior Iranian lawmaker cited by the official news agency IRNA on Sunday.

Mojtaba Yousefi, a member of the Iranian parliament's presiding board, outlined the legislative body schedule for confirming Pezeshkian's proposed cabinet members in an interview with IRNA.

He indicated that the inauguration ceremony is planned for August 4 or 5, after which Pezeshkian will have 15 days to submit his list of proposed ministers for parliamentary approval.

Yousefi noted that parliamentary sessions for the vote of confidence would commence later in August. He emphasized that on July 21, parliament would openly deliberate and vote on Pezeshkian's resignation from his current position as a lawmaker in Tehran.

Pezeshkian, a reformist and former health minister, was declared Iran's next president on Saturday following a runoff election against principlist Saeed Jalili, a former chief negotiator in Iran's nuclear talks with world powers. Pezeshkian secured 16,384,403 votes compared to Jalili's 13,538,179.

Iran's 14th presidential election, originally scheduled for 2025, was rescheduled due to the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash on May 19.

Meanwhile, the validity of the election results from the second round was confirmed on Sunday by Iran's Constitutional Council, as announced by council spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif in a televised interview with state-run IRIB TV. The council, responsible for overseeing the election process, received no complaints or objections affecting the results, according to Tahan Nazif.

Pezeshkian, 69, is a cardiac surgeon and currently a lawmaker in the country's parliament. He was the parliament's first deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020 and health minister between 2001 and 2005 in the government of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.