Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi begins presidency as crisis grips Persian Gulf
- Ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated as Iran’s new president
- Iran facing economic and health crises as well as tensions with West
Ebrahim Raisi, an ultraconservative cleric and protégé of Iran’s supreme leader, was sworn in as president on Tuesday as a new security crisis swirled in the vital shipping routes of the Persian Gulf and doubts build over the survival of the troubled 2015 nuclear deal.
Raisi, 60, began his tenure after receiving the approval of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ending the eight-year rule of Hassan Rowhani, a more moderate figure who saw his ambition to build ties with the West flounder. He’s expected to present his proposed cabinet on August 5.
While Raisi has said he intends to continue the negotiations in Vienna to save the deal, his presidency marks the return of a hardline, staunchly anti-Western brand of politics to the executive branch of the Islamic Republic.
“We will seek to lift the tyrannical sanctions imposed by America,” Raisi said in his inauguration speech.
The composition of Raisi’s foreign-policy team, and especially whether it contains officials with first-hand knowledge of the talks, could prove critical in determining progress.
