TEHRAN, July 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave Sunday his official endorsement of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian as the Islamic republic's ninth president, following elections earlier this month.

In a message read by the director of Khamenei's office, he said: "I endorse the vote (for) the wise, honest, popular and scholarly Mr Pezeshkian, and I am appointing him as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran." The new president is due to be sworn in before parliament on Tuesday.