Pezeshkian has no plans to run for second term in 2028 - Iranian newspaper
Iran's relatively moderate president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has no plan to run for a reelection in 2028, a reformist newspaper reported on Saturday.
Iran's relatively moderate president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has no plan to run for a reelection in 2028, a reformist newspaper reported on Saturday.
"Masoud Pezeshkian has said in the inner circles of power that he will serve only one term as president and does not intend to run in the next presidential election," pro-government Sazandegi newspaper reported, without giving further details.
The report was released shortly after Pezeshkian and one of his vice presidents posed for photos dressed as construction workers while laying bricks for the construction of a school in Khuzestan, southwestern Iran.
Sazandegi praised Pezeshkian’s brick-laying gesture as "beautiful", but many social media users, including both conservatives supporting the Islamic Republic and dissidents, criticized it as populism.
"The exchange rate for every US dollar has soared to 838,000 rials, and the president is busy shoveling dirt and cement," one user on X quipped.
Another anonymous user, a cleric, commented, "If the previous ultraconservative President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad had done the same, the media would have criticized him with all kinds of harsh words."
However, in its Saturday report, Sazandegi countered that the gesture could not be considered populist, as Pezeshkian has no intention of running for reelection.
