On Wednesday, August 10, 2024, the newspaper Ham-Mihan published an article titled “Manifest of Pezeshkian.” This manifesto outlines the policies and actions that the new president’s cabinet plans to implement over the next four years, both domestically and internationally.
Pezeshkian refers to his cabinet as a government of national consensus, committed to securing the civil rights of all Iranians. According to the new president, national consensus means respecting the Iranian people, including women, youth, and ethnic groups, as invaluable national assets.
However, the real question is, who does Pezeshkian actually mean by “the people”? During the election campaign, in a special interview broadcast on June 10, 2024, he explicitly stated that by “the people,” he means investors. He prioritized involving these people in the economy and bridging the gap between the government and them. From Pezeshkian’s perspective, these individuals are “citizens.” He also speaks of another group of people who must work for the “citizens,” produce value, and earn enough wages to sustain their lives.
Pezeshkian’s manifesto suggests that in a government-controlled economy, there are official workers or employees who do nothing but receive salaries. He proposes two solutions for this issue: the first is privatizing or essentially handing over government institutions and centers to the people (i.e., the “citizens”). The second solution, which he does not explicitly mention, is layoffs.
Pezeshkian, who considers himself a loyal follower of Khamenei and deeply committed to the Supreme Leader’s ideology, has a simple answer to why the country has faced such disgrace and misery domestically and internationally over the past 45 years. He repeatedly claims that the policies announced by the Supreme Leader were correct but were misunderstood and poorly implemented.
Pezeshkian asserts that he achieved his current position through a fair election, but this is a blatant lie. Contrary to his claim, the recent election was one of the most engineered elections, with sophisticated methods employed to secure Pezeshkian’s presidency.
Reuters reported that leaked information about this election revealed that Iranian intelligence officials gave a grim report to Ali Khamenei before the early presidential election in May. The report indicated that most Iranians, angry over economic problems and the suppression of social freedoms, planned to boycott the election widely, with an expected turnout of only about 13 percent. Upon seeing this report, Khamenei decided to organize a fully managed election, paving the way for Masoud Pezeshkian, a lesser-known but trusted moderate, to assume the presidency in a contest initially dominated by hardliners.
According to one of Reuters’ sources, Khamenei told his close associates that Iran needs a president who can attract various segments of society but not challenge the Shia Islamic government.
Now, the promises Pezeshkian made during his campaign are becoming a burden. For example, his first promise to dismantle the morality police has been met with severe backlash. On August 10, 2024, media outlets reported that on Pezeshkian’s first official working day as president, a new plan to crack down on men’s attire across Iran was announced. Ham-Mihan reported that government agents have increased pressure to arrest men for their clothing choices. These pressures are continuously intensifying, as seen in the cases of prominent labor and civil activists like Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi, who face trumped-up charges and execution orders in response to Pezeshkian’s policy of national consensus.
Given that over 70 percent of Iran’s economy is controlled by the Revolutionary Guards, beyond the president’s jurisdiction, foreign policy is managed by Khamenei and his advisors, and the Quds Force determines Iran’s regional policies, Pezeshkian’s actual power to implement his manifesto is highly questionable. It is the outdated ideas of Mesbah Yazdi that continue to run the country, not Pezeshkian’s purported manifesto.
The true hope for change lies in the relentless struggles of workers, brave women, determined retirees, aware students, oppressed nationalities, environmental activists, and all freedom-loving Iranians. These continuous efforts will eventually break the regime’s back and bring about real changes in people’s lives.
