One of the candidates in Iran’s presidential election is hoping for Iran to have good relations with all countries - except for Israel. Masoud Pezeshkian, who is the sole reformist running in Friday’s election, made the comments to journalists after voting, according to The Associated Press . Responding to a question from a journalist about how Iran would manage international relations if he were president, Pezeshkian replied, “God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel.” The elections in Iran are to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash last month. Pezeshkian is one of six candidates who were approved by Iran’s Guardian Council to run in the presidential election. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not one of them, having been barred by the Council from running. A higher turnout on Friday’s elections could boost Pezeshkian’s chances, but he was not seen as having much of a chance to be elected. His anti-Israel comments are not surprising, as both moderates and hardliners have long been critical of Israel. The country’s most recent “moderate” President was Hassan Rouhani, who was first elected in 2013 and reelected four years later . Shortly after being elected in 2013, Rouhan called Israel an "old wound" that "should be removed". Iranian media later claimed that Rouhani’s remarks were distorted. In 2018, Rouhani said that Israel “can never feel safe” because it is “oppressing the Palestinian nation. He later called Israel a "cancerous tumor" and urged Muslim nations worldwide to unite and destroy Israel. (Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
