Iranian President Raisi Rules Out Meeting With U.S. President Biden

Iran’s new president-elect has categorically ruled out meeting U.S. President Joe Biden for talks on nuclear or other issues.

In his first press conference on Monday, newly elected Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi was asked whether he would meet with U.S. president Joe Biden.

The president-elect answered with a simple “No.”

Over the weekend, Raisi, a hardline judiciary chief was declared the new president of Iran.

Long seen as a protege of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the newly-elected Raisi has also been linked to many executions of political prisoners, making him the first serving Iranian president to have been sanctioned by the U.S. government even before entering office.

During the press conference, he further accused the United States and European Union of violating the 2015 nuclear deal and not fulfilling their commitments calling on Biden to lift all sanctions against Iran, which would be central for foreign policy between the countries.

“The U.S. is obliged to lift all oppressive sanctions against the Iranian nation. As it has been emphasised in the present administration as well as the future administration, removal of sanctions and its verification will be central to our foreign policy.”

Meanwhile, during a press briefing at the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki said in Washington’s view, Iran’s decision-maker is the supreme leader, and not the president highlighting that this was the case before the election, is the case today, and probably will be moving forward.

The press secretary further clarified that President Biden doesn’t have any plans to meet at the leader level,

but the U.S. does intend to work on diplomatic negotiations with Iran as it is in the interest of the United States and its national security.