Iranian President-Elect Refuses To Meet With Biden

Iran’s president-elect says he will not meet with President Joe Biden, whose administration seeks to reinstate the nuclear agreement with the nation that was signed during the Obama administration and revoked by President Donald Trump.

Ebrahim Raisi, formerly the chief of Iran’s judiciary, said on Monday that he is unwilling to negotiate over the proliferation of his country’s nuclear weapons program.

He instead urged the U.S. to ease pressures imposed on top officials and the Iranian economy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif previously indicated that there was no interest among the country’s leadership for direct meetings between top U.S. and Iranian officials and implicated sanctions

Meanwhile, representatives from both countries were scheduled to meet days later in Vienna, Austria, to discuss complying with the nuclear deal.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki expressed a more optimistic view ahead of the Vienna negotiations, describing it as a welcome and potentially constructive early step.

Raisi, who himself is subject to U.S. sanctions in part for his involvement in a “death commission” responsible for the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, also addressed his role in the executions by calling himself a “defender of human rights” during the Monday press conference.