Iran's Khamenei formally grants Pezeshkian presidential powers

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave his official endorsement of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian as the Islamic Republic's ninth president, following snap elections that had concluded earlier this month.

The new president is due to be sworn in before parliament on Tuesday. The endorsement ceremony was held in the capital Tehran in the presence of senior Iranian officials and foreign diplomats, and broadcast on state TV.

Pezeshkian won a runoff election on July 5 against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili to replace President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash in May.