Mahmoud Vaezi, the former Chief of Staff to ex-President Hassan Rouhani, has openly critiqued Masoud Pezeshkian's stance on reform ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for June 28. Vaezi's comments on the only pro-reform candidate in the race highlight the importance of candidates’ allegiance to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in order to succeed. “Pezeshkian must clearly tell the people that I have been seeking 'change' from the past, and today the opportunity has arisen for change to occur in people's lives," Vaezi remarked amid Iran’s economic crisis and the worst social crackdowns in the history of the Islamic Republic.
