Raisi says Iran backs moves to lift sanctions, but won’t bow to pressure

Iran's new ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran backs any diplomatic moves to lift U.S. sanctions but will not bow to pressure, as he took the oath of office on Aug. 5.

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Raisi, who won a June 18 election marked by record abstention, takes office with Iran facing an economy battered by U.S. sanctions, a grinding health crisis and thorny negotiations on its nuclear programme.

"Sanctions against the nation of Iran must be lifted," Raisi said at his swearing-in ceremony in parliament. "We will support any diplomatic plans that will realize this goal."

But he stressed that "the policy of pressure and sanctions will not cause the nation of Iran to back down from following up on its legal rights".

The 60-year-old former judiciary chief officially began his four-year mandate on Tuesday, when he was inaugurated by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Aug. 5, he was sworn in before Iran's parliament, to which he will present his cabinet list early next week, state television reported.

"Today I am the servant of all the republic and of more than 80 million people," Raisi told parliament, stressing his administration will be one of "national consensus".

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Raisi's presidency is due to consolidate power in the hands of conservatives, following their 2020 parliamentary election victory, which was marked by the disqualification of thousands of reformist or moderate candidates.

He succeeds moderate Hassan Rouhani, whose landmark achievement during his two-term presidency was the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers.

The United States on Aug. 5 urged Iran to return to talks aimed at reviving the nuclear deal.

Around 80 foreign dignitaries attended...