SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iran’s newly inaugurated President Ebrahim Raisi vowed Tuesday that his government would endeavor to get U.S. sanctions lifted but would not wait for foreign help to rescue the battered economy.
“We are certainly looking to lift the oppressive sanctions but we will not tie the nation’s standard of living to the will of foreigners,” he said in his inauguration speech.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump ditched Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers in 2018, and reimposed sanctions that devastated Iran’s economy.
Iran and six powers have been in talks since April to revive the nuclear pact. But Iranian and Western officials have said that significant gaps remain.
The sixth round of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington adjourned on June 20, two days after Raisi was elected president. Parties involved in the negotiations have yet to announce when the next round of talks in Vienna will resume.
The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last word on all matters of state, but the change of president will remove the moderating influence on policy-making exercised by Raisi’s pragmatist predecessor, Hassan Rouhani, since 2013.
