Iran swears in new hard-line president amid regional tension
Ebrahim Raisi, has been sworn in as the new President of Iran[Maryam Kamyab / Mehr News Agency / (CC BY 4.0) ]
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran has sworn in Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of the country’s supreme leader, as its new president. The inauguration on Thursday completes hard-liners’ dominance of all branches of government in the Islamic Republic. Raisi is a former judiciary chief known for his distrust of the West. He takes the reins at a tense time.
Iran’s indirect talks with the U.S. to salvage Tehran’s landmark 2015 nuclear deal have stalled.
Washington maintains crippling sanctions on the country and regional hostilities simmer.
Raisi won a landslide victory in an election that disqualified his strongest challengers and saw the lowest voter turnout in the nation’s history.