<article><p class="lead">Iran's president-elect Ebrahim Raisi has reiterated that his administration will build on the efforts of his predecessor Hassan Rohani to lift US sanctions. But improving the livelihood of the Iranian people will not be conditional on sanctions relief, he said.</p><p>"We will definitely seek to eliminate and lift the tyrannical sanctions," Raisi said today after receiving the endorsement of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But "we will not make the people's livelihoods conditional or tie all these things to the foreigners."</p><p>US sanctions were reimposed on Tehran in 2018 after former US president Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This has since taken a heavy toll on the Iranian economy as it blocked Iran's access to the global banking system, barred foreign companies from investing in Iran and restricted countries from buying Iranian crude and oil products. </p><p>Since April, Iran has been locked in indirect negotiations with the US over a mutual return to the nuclear agreement and a lifting of the economic sanctions. Although some progress was made initially, the talks stalled in mid-June as the two sides reached a deadlock over key issues. These included a request by Washington that Iran commit to follow-up talks on other issues and a request by Tehran that the US guarantee it will not unilaterally exit the deal in the future. The deadlock prompted the Iranians to put the talks on ice, at least until the incoming administration formally takes office after Raisi's inauguration on 5 August. </p><p>Raisi and key members of his team have been briefed regularly on the JCPOA talks since his election win on 18 June. But he insists that securing sanctions relief will be just one of many priorities when he takes office. "We will definitely pursue all the matters that we have before us, the immediate issues we are facing today… like the issue of the budget deficit, of capital market stability, stability of the stock exchange, the need to contain inflation and also the issue of the coronavirus pandemic," he said.</p><p>Iran has been battling the Middle East's most deadly Covid-19 outbreak, with the country averaging more than 30,000 new cases and around 320 deaths a day since late last month. More than 91,000 people in Iran have died from Covid since the start of the pandemic last year.</p><p>"I thank all the statesman of the [outgoing] 12th administration," Raisi said today. "But there are so many issues we have to deal with. We have a short-term and urgent plan to address 10 major issues, and we will be facing these from today… I assure the people that the solutions have been drawn out, and these will be dealt with urgently."</p><p class="bylines">By Nader Itayim</p></article>
