The outcome of Iran’s weekend election has once again propelled a centrist candidate from the reformist faction of the country’s Islamic regime to the top political office. While historic and a sign of the growing dissatisfaction within Iran, the challenges confronting the new president cannot be overestimated.

Masoud Pezeshkian, who beat his ultra-conservative opponent, Saeed Jalili, has promised to put Iran on a course of reform and moderation on the domestic and foreign policy fronts. As an experienced former legislator and health minister, the former heart surgeon has a public mandate within Iran’s restricted electoral legitimacy to initiate substantial changes. Pezeshkian needs to improve his country’s faltering social and economic landscape, and foreign relations with the........

© The Sydney Morning Herald