Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian, who has been touted as a reformist, on Monday reaffirmed Iran's anti-Israel stance, Reuters reported.
Pezeshkian stated that “resistance movements” across the region will not allow Israel’s "criminal policies" towards the Palestinian Arabs to continue.
"The Islamic Republic has always supported the resistance of the people of the region against the illegitimate Zionist regime," Pezeshkian said in a message to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to Reuters.
The comments signalled no change in the regional policies of the incoming government under Pezeshkian, who defeated his hardline rival, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, in last week’s runoff election.
"I am certain that the resistance movements in the region will not allow this regime to continue its warmongering and criminal policies against the oppressed people of Palestine and other nations of the region," Iranian media quoted Pezeshkian as saying.
Nasrallah on Saturday congratulated Pezeshkian on his victory, emphasizing Tehran's role as a "strong" supporter of regional "resistance" groups.
Pezeshkian has been an Iranian MP since 2008, and serves as a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the vice speaker of parliament.
Among his stated goals is to improve Iran's relationships with the West but that, however, does not include Israel. On the day of the first round of the elections, 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.”
Pezeshkian’s 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, Rouhani 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.