Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi was on Thursday sworn in as Iran’s president with the Islamic Republic’s clerical rulers facing growing crises at home and abroad.
The inauguration reportedly comes two days after winning the formal endorsement of the country’s supreme leader to take office following his victory in an election in June.
Raisi, who is under U.S. sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses when he was a judge, has promised to take steps to lift tough U.S. sanctions that have cut Iran’s oil exports and have shut it out of the international banking system.
Iran has been negotiating with six major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned three years ago by then U.S. President Donald Trump, who said it was too soft on Tehran.
Under the deal, Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of international sanctions, but Trump withdrew from the deal and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
Tehran has since breached limits imposed on its nuclear activities under the agreement.
Like Iran’s supreme leader, Raisi has endorsed the nuclear talks, but the mid-ranking Shi’ite cleric is widely expected to adopt a tougher line in talks that have stalled.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last say on all state matters including nuclear policy.
Iranian and Western officials have said significant gaps remain to be resolved in the nuclear talks and have yet to announce when the talks will resume.
With economic misery palpable at home and signs of growing anger among Iranians over economic hardships, breaking free of the U.S. sanctions will be Raisi’s top economic goal, political analysts say.
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