Days after he has won the presidential elections in Iran, the stances of Ebrahim Raisi on the nuclear deal his country has been negotiating with the US and other western countries have drawn interest, as people have been wondering whether his policies will change the prospects of an approaching return to the JCPOA.
.@NIACouncil says that "the best and only effective response" to Raisi's election is for Biden and his administration "to remain vigilant in pursuing the full restoration of the Iran nuclear deal as a first step towards direct diplomacy that can improve... https://t.co/csNsMoNHIC
— Common Dreams (@commondreams) June 19, 2021
Ever since the political change in the US earlier in 2021, the world has been waiting for western countries and Iran to negotiate and return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which the Trump administration had withdrawn in 2017.
Negotiations between Iran and the US have already been taking place for months in Vienna, with all parties expecting a return to an agreement quite similar to the one signed between Iran, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, in addition to the Obama-Biden administration in 2015.
However, the recent win of Ebrahim Raisi who is considered by many as a hardliner has raised questions over the possibility of a new nuclear deal with Iran, especially as the new president, who is expected to assume power next August, has repeatedly stressed the need for a resilient Iran which the economy can overcome the grave consequences of US sanctions.
Iran's president-elect welcomes negotiations with world powers aimed at reviving its 2015 nuclear deal, but says they must guarantee national interests https://t.co/p0UQ4B8C3V
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 21, 2021
The Iranian new president Ebrahim Raisi said that "
— Adnan Sami (@Adn_khan1012) June 21, 2021
•US should return on the 2015 nuclear deal and lift all the sanction from Iran".
• Iran is willing to return on the deal made by US in 2015.
• Iran will support everything which give benefit to the Iranian people.#Iran
Throughout his election campaign, Raisi had welcomed the possibility of his country's return to the JCPOA "as long as it meets the Iranian interests," a stance that does not differ from that of the leaving president Hassan Rouhani or that of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In his first international press conference, Ebrahim Raisi ruled out plans to meet with the US President Joe Biden in person but called on the US to return the deal