(ConservativeHub.com) – Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed an interest in re-entering the Iran nuclear deal, both on the campaign trail and in the Oval Office. However, Iran hasn’t agreed to meet directly with Biden administration officials, and that possibility is looking remote in the wake of Iran’s recent election of a new president.
On Saturday, June 19, Iranian authorities declared hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, the victor with 62% of the vote. He told reporters on Monday he would not meet with Biden, nor would he negotiate Iran’s ballistic missile program and its alliances with regional militia groups. According to Raisi, those topics were “non-negotiable.” He also stated the United States was “obliged” to remove all its “oppressive sanctions” against Tehran.
Iran's president-elect says he won't meet with President Biden, AP reports https://t.co/1bftAtvilN
— Bloomberg (@business) June 21, 2021
A protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Raisi has personally been the target of US sanctions over his involvement in mass executions, including a 1988 incident that resulted in the death of about 5,000 people. Asked by reporters about his involvement in that event, Raisi referred to himself as a “defender of human rights.”
Raisi’s election puts hardliners in control of Iranian foreign policy when many American conservatives are criticizing the Biden administration for being weak when dealing with Tehran.
This situation doesn’t bode well for future US-Iranian relations and raises serious questions regarding Biden’s continued insistence on renegotiating the nuclear deal with Tehran.
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