Hardline cleric Raisi to be sworn in as Iran's president
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[August 05, 2021]
By Parisa Hafezi
DUBAI (Reuters) - Hardline cleric Ebrahim
Raisi will be sworn in as Iran's president on Thursday, with the Islamic
Republic's clerical rulers face growing crises at home and abroad.
Iranian television said Raisi, 60, would be inaugurated later on
Thursday, 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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Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a news conference
in Tehran, Iran June 21, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News
Agency) via REUTERS
Tensions have simmered between Iran and the West
after a suspected drone attack last week on an Israeli-managed
tanker off the Omani coast that killed two crew members.
The United States, Israel and Britain blamed the incident on Iran.
Tehran has denied responsibility, and warned it would respond
promptly to any threat to its security.
Iran has also denied involvement in a hijacking incident in the
Arabian Sea on Tuesday. Maritime security sources said they
suspected Iranian-backed forces were behind the attack on a
Panama-flagged tanker and Washington said it believed Iranians
hijacked the vessel but was not in a position to confirm.
Appointed by Khamenei to run the judiciary in 2019, Raisi was placed
under U.S. sanctions a few months later for the role he allegedly
played in the executions of thousands of political prisoners in
1988. Iran has never acknowledged the killings.
Since his election, Raisi has said the U.S. sanctions were imposed
on him for doing his job as a judge. Dissidents fear his presidency
could usher in more repression in Iran.
(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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