The US administration has urged Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi to resume nuclear talks.
State Department Spokesman Ned Price said that he hoped incoming President Ebrahim
Raisi “seizes the opportunity now to advance diplomatic solutions”.
“We are waiting to see, as I’ve said before, the approach that the new government in Iran
will take,” Price said, adding, “For our part, we’ve made very clear that we are prepared to
return to Vienna to resume negotiations.”
The US statements came as Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in as Iran’s eighth president.
In his inauguration ceremony, Raisi said Iranians want him to maintain the country’s
independence and resist foreign bullying.
But he also promised to pursue “diplomacy and constructive and extensive engagement
with the world”, reiterating his stance that boosting regional neighbours’ relations would be
at the top of his foreign policy.
“I extend a hand of friendship and brotherhood to all countries, especially those in the
region,” Raisi said.
He also called for lifting US sanctions, imposed in 2018 after then-US President Donald Trump.
“We will support any diplomatic plans that will achieve this goal,” he said, signalling he will
continue negotiations in Vienna aimed at restoring the accord.
Moreover, he promised that Iran’s nuclear programme is strictly peaceful and nuclear
weapons “have no place in the country’s defence strategy”.
Iran and world leaders have recently resumed talks to revive the 2015 accord, which
witnessed a setback during Donald Trump’s era.
Joe Biden’s election stirred a new hope for reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA, or the Iran deal).
READ: Poland, Lithuania Furious Over Belarus Migration Wave
