Balanced Interaction With International Community Underpins Iran’s Foreign Policy

EghtesadOnline: In his first post-election press conference, president-elect Ebrahim Raeisi said balanced interaction with the international community will be the central pillar of his administration’s foreign policy.

News ID: ۷۸۶۵۰۹

27 June 2021

Laying out his plans for the next four years, Raeisi noted that he welcomes any international negotiation that guarantees Iran’s national interests, IRNA reported.

“But we will not tie the economy and the public’s livelihood to negotiations,” the top official clarified.

In Friday’s presidential election, Raeisi won a landslide victory by garnering 17.9 million votes out of the 28.9 million cast. Nearly 48.8% of the eligible population participated in the 2021 election.

Pointing to unilateral United States sanctions imposed on Iran, the president-elect said, “The US’s maximum pressure campaign didn’t work on the Iranian people. They need to reconsider [their policy] and return to the deal.”

The US reneged on the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018. European parties to the accord “failed to fulfill their commitments” to Iran, according to Raeisi.

“The world needs to know that our foreign policy doesn’t begin with the JCPOA, and it will not be limited to the JCPOA,” the top official said.

“We will not allow negotiations for the sake of negotiations. We’ll not allow protracted negotiations,” Raeisi said. “Every meeting needs to deliver results.”

Iran has been in talks with diplomats from France, Germany, Britain, Russia, China and indirectly with the US since early April to salvage the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Raeisi said the US needed to show goodwill by lifting all sanctions and noted that regional issues and Iran’s ballistic missile program were “non-negotiable,” especially after the US failure to fulfill its obligations under the JCPOA.

The president-elect highlighted Iran’s ties with neighboring countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and referred to Iran’s agreement with China, dubbed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as instrumental in the two nations’ relations.

Domestic Policy

Raeisi also outlined his plans for policies at home, saying that his priority is to revive the economy and improve the people’s livelihood.

“We’ll make production enticing and nonproductive activities unappealing,” the top official said.

One of Raeisi’s initiatives for boosting production is to gradually cut taxes from the current 25% to as low as 10% for producers. Instead, his government is aiming to levy taxes on profiteering in the gold, currency and property markets to create a form of “tax justice”.

Moreover, he warned about the explosive growth of liquidity in the country and said he aims to direct the money flow toward domestic production to fight inflation.

Raising the issue of excessive bureaucracy and its impact on impeding developments, the president-elect said, “This situation needs to change. We’ll establish a robust and law-abiding administrative system governed by efficient and revolutionary forces.”

“We hope that our measures to improve the circumstances solve the public’s problems and bring hope back to the people,” Raeisi said. “We’ll build back the trust that was betrayed.”