Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi has expressed a strong stance on the nuclear deal

Iran’s newly elected president has stated that his government will take a tougher line after Tehran’s signing of negotiations with the world powers in 2015 on the nuclear deal negotiations with victory over voters hardened their full control over all state weapons.

Conservative clergyman Ebrahim Raisi and the judiciary have told reporters that his government will not “negotiate for the sake of negotiations” and has ruled out holding a meeting with US President Joe Biden.

“Our foreign policy does not start with the JCPOA [the nuclear deal] and it doesn’t end with the JCPOA, “Raisi told reporters in his first press conference since his landslide victory on Friday.” We will stand up for negotiations that meet our national interests. ».

However, he suggested that the government, which will take office in August, will commit to a dying deal. Analysts say easing sanctions will be key to Raisi’s hopes of easing economic pressure on Iran.

His victory was the lowest turnout in the presidential election since the 1979 revolution, with more than half of voters staying at home.

Biden said he will rejoin the deal, which the Trump administration unilaterally left in 2018 if Iran returns to fulfilling the deal after a significant increase in its nuclear activity over the past two years. The Islamic regime has stressed that all U.S. sanctions must be removed as soon as possible – and verified for removal – before returning to commitments.

“It was the US that violated the JCPOA,” Raisi said. “I emphasize to the US that you are the one who pledged to lift the sanctions and you did not do it. Go back to it and fulfill your commitments.”

The outgoing government of President Hassan Rouhani, the architect of the agreement, has been in talks for months with the other signatories to the agreement – the UK, France, Germany, China and Russia – to get the US back and lift sanctions. The U.S. has been an observer in the talks, but has not been directly involved.

Asked if his government would be willing to negotiate directly with the Biden administration, Raisi did not give an explicit answer, “saying a serious suggestion to the US… By removing honesty is to show honesty.”

The Iranian economy plunged into a deep recession as Trump abandoned the deal and imposed waves of sanctions on the Islamic republic. Penal measures reduced the ability to export oil, a key source of the state’s hard currency, and boosted inflation by more than 46 percent when the rally fell. The recession has intensified due to the coronavirus crisis.

Raisi, Ali Khamenei’s top leader, is believed to support Ayatolah, stressing that Iran’s support for militant groups across the region and the development of a missile program are “non-negotiable.”

The Biden administration is under pressure from the US and Israel and its Arab partners, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to extend all agreements with Iran, including these issues. They say Tehran is destabilizing the region and threatening their security. Iran believes that militia support and a missile arsenal are essential. Any decision on major foreign policy issues is determined by Khamenei.

Raisi, who was punished by the Trump administration in 2019, accused him of overseeing abuses in the judiciary, and his history proved to be a “defender” of human rights.

The incoming president’s allegations of human rights further complicate Iran’s relations with the West. “As a lawyer, I have always defended people’s rights,” he said. “Human rights have been central to my responsibilities.”