TEHRAN – President Masoud Pezeshkian returned to familiar surroundings on Monday as the heart surgeon-turned-politician inaugurated a new 550-bed hospital in eastern Tehran.

The hospital serves as the expanded and modernized headquarters of an existing facility, upgraded using government funds. Pezeshkian was photographed speaking with dozens of patients who had been transferred to the new building. He was also seen spending time with hospital staff, inquiring about the facility’s operations.