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The protege of Iran’s supreme leader, Ebrahim Raisi, was sworn in as the country’s new president in a ceremony in parliament on Thursday, an inauguration that completes the domination of extremists over all branches of government in the Islamic Republic.
The former justice chief is taking the reins at a time when Iran’s indirect talks with the United States to save Tehran’s landmark 2015 nuclear deal have stalled. Washington maintains crippling sanctions against the country and regional hostilities simmer.
“The sanctions must be lifted,” Raisi said during his half-hour inauguration speech. “We will support any diplomatic plan that supports this goal. ”
Wearing the traditional black turban which identifies him in Shia tradition as a direct descendant of the Prophet of Islam Muhammad, Raisi recited the oath of office with his right hand over the Quran.
In his speech, Raisi underscored his adherence to diplomacy to lift US sanctions and redress disagreements with neighbors, a subtle reference to rival Sunni Saudi Arabia. But he also signaled that Iran was seeking to expand its power to counterbalance enemies in the region.
“Wherever there is oppression and crime in the world, in the heart of Europe, in the United States, in Africa, in Yemen, in Syria, in Palestine… we will be on the side of the people”, said he said, referring to militias supported by Iran like that of Yemen. Houthi rebels and Lebanese Hezbollah. His voice rose with emotion, eliciting a clamor of approval from the audience. “The message of the election was resistance against arrogant powers.”
Fierce criticism
Raisi, who won a landslide victory in an election that saw the lowest voter turnout in the country’s history, faces a mountain of problems – what he described on Thursday as “the highest level hostilities by enemies of Iran, unfair economic sanctions, widespread psychological warfare and the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic. ”
Amid the ongoing sanctions, Iran is grappling with soaring inflation, declining revenues, progressive power outages and water shortages that have sparked scattered protests. Forbidden to sell its oil abroad, Iran has seen its economy collapse and its currency collapse, hitting ordinary citizens harder.
Without proposing a specific policy, Raisi pledged to resolve the country’s growing economic crisis, improve the currency spiral and “empower the poor”.
Earlier, Raisi’s election drew fierce criticism from political opponents and human rights groups.
“The fact that Ebrahim Raisi took the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance and torture, is a grim reminder that impunity reigns in master in Iran.
“In 2018, our organization documented how Ebrahim Raisi had been a member of the ‘death commission’ which forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret thousands of political dissidents in Evin and Gohardasht prisons near of Tehran in 1988 ”, declared the general secretary of Amnesty International Agnès Callamard.
Wait and watch
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the United States will wait to see what approach Iran’s new government takes.
“Our message to President Raisi is the same as our message to his predecessors and it is very simple: the United States will defend and advance our national security interests and those of our partners,” he said. “We hope Iran will seize the opportunity now. to advance diplomatic solutions.
Former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) in 2018, led Tehran over time to abandon all limitations imposed by the agreement on its nuclear enrichment. The country is now enriching a small amount of uranium up to 63%, slightly above military grade levels, compared to 3.67% under the deal. It also spins centrifuges much more advanced and more than what is allowed by the agreement, which worries nuclear non-proliferation experts, although Tehran insists its agenda is peaceful.
Hard position
Raisi, 60, a conservative cleric long cultivated by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has pledged to engage with the United States. the Biden administration wants to address.
The official procedure in Tehran comes just a week after a drone crashed into an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman, killing two crew members.
The United States, Israel and the United Kingdom blamed Iran for the raid and promised a collective response, with Israel’s defense minister even warning Thursday that the country was ready to strike Iran. Although Tehran has denied any involvement, the assault escalates into a multi-year phantom war targeting commercial shipping in the Middle East and threatens to complicate efforts to revive the nuclear deal.
Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony, reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the country, again drew leaders and dignitaries from around the world. The Iraqi and Afghan presidents came by plane for the occasion, as well as Enrique Mora, the European Union official who coordinated the recent nuclear negotiations in Vienna. Senior officials from Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Venezuela and South Korea were also present.
(With agencies)
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