The new president, Ibrahim Raisi, was sworn in in Parliament on Thursday, and Iran is facing a severe blow to the economy by US sanctions, a severe health crisis, and thorny negotiations on the 2015 nuclear agreement.
After the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took office, the ultra-conservative former attorney general officially began his four-year term on Tuesday.
Raisi succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani, whose milestone achievement during his two-term presidency was an agreement reached between the Islamic Republic and six world powers in 2015.
After former President Donald Trump decided to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the agreement and re-impose severe sanctions in 2018, the country has been struggling to deal with a deep economic and social crisis.
Reisi said on Tuesday: “We believe that the people’s economic situation is unfavorable due to the enemy’s hostility and domestic shortcomings and problems.”
He added that his new government will seek to lift “oppressive” sanctions, but it will not “link the country’s standard of living with the wishes of foreigners.”
The 60-year-old man faced warnings from the United States, Britain and Israel to Iran for a fatal tanker attack last week, and Tehran denied responsibility.
Iran is also battling the outbreak of the deadliest COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East, with more than 4 million cases and more than 92,000 deaths.
Nuclear negotiation
Raisi was elected in a June poll with a record abstention rate. Prior to this, many heavyweights were banned from standing and will be sworn in before Parliament at 5:00 pm.
Local media said he is expected to present his proposed cabinet lineup before the two-week deadline.
According to Iranian media, several foreign officials, including the President of Iraq and the Speakers of Parliament from Niger, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uzbekistan, have been invited to attend Thursday’s ceremony.
According to reports, EU diplomat and nuclear deal negotiator Enrique Mora met with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran on Wednesday, one of the EU representatives expected to attend.
Six rounds of nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers were held in Vienna from April to June in an attempt to revive the agreement. The last round ended on June 20, and no date has been set for the next round.
Raisi’s presidency is due to conservatives’ consolidation of power after the victory of the 2020 parliamentary elections, which is characterized by the disqualification of thousands of reformist or moderate candidates.
The presidential palace website stated that the new president started work on Wednesday, chaired a meeting of the coronavirus working group, and met with ministers from the outgoing government.
‘Multiple challenges’
Several Iranian newspapers pointed out after he took office that the new president will complete the work for him in several ways.
US sanctions stifled Iran and its important oil exports, and the economy contracted by more than 6% in 2018 and 2019.
An editorial in the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper stated on Wednesday that Raisi will have to “face multiple challenges due to the number of problems”, including “unprecedented inflation”, soaring house prices, private sector recession and “corruption”.
The ultra-conservative “Java Daily” called on the new government to “implement concrete plans to solve pressing problems.”
It lists “hydropower, basic products, and vaccination” as issues that need to be resolved in the short term.
Tehran and other major cities began a total power outage last month, and officials blamed the drought’s impact on hydroelectric power generation and the surge in demand.
Due to lack of water, demonstrators took to the streets of Khuzestan Province in the southwest.
The reformist newspaper Sharq expressed the hope that “political games in the new government will make way for healthy intellectual competition and different discourses and voices.”
“This can only be achieved by promoting freedom of the press and media and the great tolerance of government members,” it added.
