Iran’s Raisi Names Anti-Western Hardliner New Foreign Minister

Iran’s New President Ebrahim Raisi named an anti-Western diplomat as foreign minister on Wednesday as the country and six world powers seek to restore their 2015 nuclear deal.

Raisi, a hardliner under Western sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses when he was a judge, was sworn into office on Aug. 5 with the Islamic Republic’s clerical rulers facing growing crises at home and abroad.

The mid-ranking Shi’ite cleric replaced pragmatist Hassan Rouhani as president after an election in June when most prominent rivals – including moderates and reformists – were barred from standing.

Presenting his cabinet to parliament for an expected vote of confidence, Raisi chose Hossein Amirabdollahian as foreign minister and Javad Owji, an ex-deputy oil minister and managing director of the state-run gas company, as oil minister.

Reports in semi-official Iranian media suggested that the Supreme National Security Council, which reports directly to hardline Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would take over the nuclear talks in Vienna from the foreign ministry, which had been led by relative moderates during Rouhani’s administration.

Iran and world powers have been negotiating since April to revive the pact that was repudiated in 2018 by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who also reimposed sanctions that have devastated Tehran’s economy by squeezing its oil exports.

A sixth round of the talks were held on June 20, with Iranian and Western officials saying major gaps remained to be resolved in returning Tehran and Washington to full compliance with the pact.

Iran has violated limits on its enrichment of uranium, a possible pathway to nuclear weapons, since 2019.