Pezeshkian survives war—now ceasefire tests his limited power

Pezeshkian limited – Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has stayed in office through resignation rumors, hardline backlash, and wartime crackdowns. With a possible interim U.S. ceasefire deal looking closer and no official Iranian sign-off yet, his post-war challenge may be less a

In Tehran, the moment looked small at first: when Iranian officials met this month to discuss the nation’s water crisis, President Masoud Pezeshkian asked them to remove their blazers to cope with the sweltering heat instead of switching on the air conditioning.

He wore a short-sleeved polo shirt. The gesture was meant to symbolize conserving energy amid war. It also became a lightning rod. Hardline politicians slammed his unorthodox attire. Activists accused him of double standards—arguing that under Iran’s strict dress codes. ordinary people would be barred from dressing down.

The next day, London-based opposition outlet Iran International reported that Pezeshkian had submitted his resignation. The news sent his team into crisis management. Officials took to social media to dismiss the report as “wishful thinking.” It wasn’t the first time false stories had circulated about Pezeshkian offering to step down.

That pattern—controversy, denial, rumors, then more running of the government—has followed him for much of his tenure. And for many Iranians, it has blurred the line between political theater and survival.

Pezeshkian took office after his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, died in a helicopter crash in 2024, initially seen as a placeholder. Two years later. he is still there—an “unlikely survivor” through one of the most turbulent periods in the Islamic Republic’s history—while criticism from hardliners and opposition forces has never fully gone away.

The question now is whether that survival instinct can translate into something more durable once the shooting stops.

With an interim deal for a ceasefire with the United States appearing increasingly likely. Pezeshkian’s domestic challenges may soon multiply. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. “ended the war with Iran. ” and added that it has agreed to a “very strong memorandum of understanding. ” though Iranian officials have yet to officially sign off on any pact.

Ali Ahmadi. a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and Middle East Institute Switzerland. said Pezeshkian is “going to be dealing with a lot of post-war issues” but is likely to “come out of this with more credibility within the Iranian political system. ” having served as a wartime president.

That credibility may be the one advantage a president can still carve out for himself as power around him tightens.

Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of Amwaj.media, described how the war has reshaped Pezeshkian’s role. The president. he said. is being pushed into a narrower lane. adding that Pezeshkian has been “relegated” as. “at least formally. ” the Islamic Republic’s second-highest official. while “increasingly” settling into a role that manages “mainly domestic affairs.” Shabani also raised a wider uncertainty: whether the presidency as an institution will remain constrained compared to predecessors.

Pezeshkian’s political brand is often described as dull humility, repeated apologies, and folksy relatability. He was nominated to run for the presidency in carefully vetted elections after Raisi’s death. Experts say voters elected the relatively low-profile figure largely to block Saeed Jalili. the hardline extremist nominee he was running against.

Under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. the presidency has long operated under a ceiling it could rarely touch—key decisions come from above. After Khamenei’s killing in an Israeli airstrike on February 28 at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war. that ceiling appears to have shrunk further. Observers say the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. described as functioning as a deep state. has grown in prominence following Khamenei’s death.

Mohammad Ali Shabani said Pezeshkian sought “from the outset of his term to defang his hardline opponents through excessive fealty to the supreme leader.” Shabani said that approach had benefits—such as promptly having his cabinet approved by parliament—but also “hollowed out the authority of the presidency under his watch.”.

The contradictions are hard to miss. Pezeshkian has presided over what the article describes as the regime’s deadliest crackdowns on protesters. He also oversaw drought conditions described as among the worst in decades. Tehran’s deadly air pollution that claims thousands of lives each year. and a currency so devalued that authorities have resorted to removing zeros from the rial to make financial calculations easier.

Still, some Iranians have found room to see something else in him. A mother of two living in Tehran. who asked not to be named. told CNN that for many young people. economic promises aren’t enough anymore. She described social freedoms, an open internet, and a calmer atmosphere as what matters. “We can only judge by one thing… real results in people’s daily lives,” she said.

In his criticism of the state’s own messaging. Pezeshkian tried to draw a line between government performance and what he called unfair portrayal. This weekend. he lashed out at state broadcaster IRIB for adding to public anxiety by depicting the government’s performance negatively. In a Sunday post on X. he wrote: “When state television and certain media figures direct unfair criticism at the government during wartime. we will be compelled to respond appropriately. That would not be in the country’s best interest.” The post drew widespread criticism from conservative Iranians.

As the U.S. and Israel launched the war in late February, Iran’s political veterans assumed de facto control over major state decisions, further confining Pezeshkian to administration. Some of his clashes have shown the limits of that confinement.

Hamidreza Azizi. a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. said the “authority. influence. and institutional significance of the presidency have declined considerably since after the (former President Hassan) Rouhani era.” He added that today. “both the president as an individual and the administration as an institution are largely confined to implementing decisions that are made elsewhere—particularly within the Supreme National Security Council.”.

And yet the war has also kept Pezeshkian in the spotlight. The crises have boosted his standing, especially since the U.S.-Israeli war began.

As hardliners push for continued war, Pezeshkian is likely taking a more moderate stance that has riled them. Ahmadi said it would not be surprising if Pezeshkian advocates for “more patient diplomacy and flexibility.”

Since his election, Pezeshkian has clashed with conservative elements in the regime over policy matters. Early in the war, he issued public apologies to neighboring countries for strikes launched against them—an act that brought sharper criticism from hardliners.

He has also continued to ensure his government supplies basic goods, described as abundant but expensive, even with a naval blockade imposed by Washington on Iran. He has pushed to assert some authority on key campaign promises—moves that won further support.

One of the starkest episodes came with internet restrictions. The article says Pezeshkian reluctantly presided over the longest internet blackout in Iran’s history. But it also says he earned public support after speaking out against those restrictions and lifting them last month. even as hardliners tried to block the move through a court order.

During the war, he became more visible on the streets of Tehran, walking freely among people without guards and attending to patients in hospitals, according to videos shared online.

Even so, the space he works in appears to be a managed one. Shabani described Pezeshkian as an “almost accidental president,” a former MP who has sought fealty to the supreme leader—an approach that kept his cabinet approved quickly but left his authority hollowed out.

Some conservatives have defended him. Abbas Salimi Namin, a conservative commentator, told Iranian reformist news outlet Rouydad24 that “Throughout the life of the Islamic Republic, even influential presidents have never been in (Pezeshkian’s) situation.”

Still, disillusionment remains vivid among those who feel the system’s problems won’t be solved by a single office. An Iranian man who lost his job because of the internet shutdown told CNN: “Are you really asking me if I have an opinion about this guy?” He added. “The country’s problems go far beyond one person or one government.” “They’re rooted in the system itself.”.

For now, Pezeshkian’s story is the story of a president who has stayed—through rumors of resignation, through public backlash over something as basic as blazers in sweltering heat, through accusations of compliance with the United States, and through wartime crackdowns.

If the ceasefire holds and the fighting ends. the same question will return in a different form: can a presidency narrowed by the supreme leader’s structure and the security establishment’s dominance become anything more than a manager of domestic affairs—especially when post-war decisions stop being theoretical and start demanding real choices?.

Masoud Pezeshkian Iran presidency ceasefire US Khamenei killing IRGC power internet blackout Tehran pollution Iran water crisis resignation rumors Ali Ahmadi Amwaj.media