Photo: President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian is shown in front of a poster of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who is the ultimate authority in the Islamic Republic and who calls all the shots.
The United States should realise that Iran will not respond to pressure, President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement published on Saturday, in which he also highlighted his country’s friendship with China and Russia.
Pezeshkian, a relative moderate who beat a hardline rival in election , also reiterated that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons, adding that Tehran would expand ties with neighbours and engage with Europe.
“The United States…needs to recognise the reality and understand, once and for all, that Iran does not – and will not – respond to pressure (and) that Iran’s defense doctrine does not include nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said in the statement, titled “My message to the new world”, and published in the daily Tehran Times.
Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon, has pledged to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalization and political pluralism.
However many Iranians are sceptical about his ability to fulfill his campaign promises as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not the president, is the ultimate authority in the Islamic Republic and who calls all the shots.
“China and Russia have consistently stood by us during challenging times. We deeply value this friendship.
“Russia is a valued strategic ally and neighbour to Iran and my administration will remain committed to expanding and enhancing our cooperation,” Pezeshkian said, adding that Tehran would actively support initiatives aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine.
“The Iranian people have entrusted me with a strong mandate to vigorously pursue constructive engagement on the international stage while insisting on our rights, our dignity and our deserved role in the region and the world.
“I extend an open invitation to those willing to join us in this historic endeavor,” Pezeshkian said.
Pezeshkian defeated hardliner Ali Jalili in the runoff presidential election, signaling public desire for change. He replaces Ebrahim Raisi, the ultra-conservative seminarian who was speculated to be the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the Supreme Leader.
The economic chaos inflicted by the Raisi administration was so significant that many felt no president could reverse the inflation rate of 40% or the intimidating depreciation of the rial. One US dollar is now equivalent to 42,100 Iranian Rials, while when the late Ayatollah Khomaini , the founder of the Islamic Republic overthrew the Shah of Iran , one US $ was worth 69 rials only . In other words the Rial wend down in value over 600 times
Reuters/ News Agencies/ YL
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