"As a first measure, my administration will urge our neighboring Arab countries to collaborate and utilize all political and diplomatic leverages to prioritize achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza aiming to stop the massacre and prevent the broadening of the conflict," Pezeshkian said in an article entitled 'My message to the new world' published in the Tehran Times newspaper on Friday.
Pezeshkian also expressed solidarity with Western protests against Israel's actions in Gaza which have been called antiemetic by media pundits and lawmakers who favor Israel.
"Today, it seems that many young people in Western countries have recognized the validity of our decades-long stance on the Israeli regime. I would like to take this opportunity to tell this brave generation that we regard the allegations of antisemitism against Iran for its principled stance on the Palestinian issue as not only patently false but also as an insult to our culture, beliefs, and core values. Rest assured that these accusations are as absurd as the unjust claims of antisemitism directed at you while you protest on university campuses to defend the Palestinians' right to life," Pezeshkian wrote.
On July 6, Iranian election headquarters spokesman Mohsen Eslami said reformist Pezeshkian won the second round of the snap presidential election in Iran. Pezeshkian gained 16,384,403 votes. His rival, former nuclear negotiator conservative Saeed Jalili got 13,538,179 votes. Overall, 30,573,931 ballots were counted. Voter turnout was 49.8%.
The election was called after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in Iran's mountainous north in May.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel and breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted during the attack. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip has reached 38,345 since last October, while further 88,200 have been injured, according to the Palestinian enclave's health ministry's estimates.