Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s uaconservative president-elect, said that he would not meet with President Biden, and that Tehran’s position on its ballistic missile program was “nonnegotiable.” …
Iran’s newly chosen president, in his first news conference, on Monday rejected the United States’ push for a broader deal with the Islamic Republic that would restrict its ballistic missiles program and curb its regional military policies in addition to containing its nuclear program.
President-elect Ebrahim Raisi, a conservative cleric, said that Iran’s ballistic missiles and its regional policies were “nonnegotiable” and that he would not meet with President Biden. He called on the United States to comply with a 2015 accord in which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions against it.
“My serious recommendation to the U.S. government is to immediately return to their commitments, lift all the sanctions and show that they have good will,” he said in a briefing with domestic and international reporters in Tehran.
“Regional issues and missiles are not negotiable,” he said, adding that the United States had not carried through on matters it had “negotiated, agreed and committed to.”
The comments appeared to signal a hardening of Iranian policies as the conservative faction takes control of all branches of the government: Parliament, the judiciary and soon, the presidency.
Mr. Raisi, who takes office in August, said his administration’s policies would be “revolutionary and anti-corruption.”
While Iran has always insisted that its military capabilities are not up for discussion, the current president, Hassan Rouhani, who is considered moderate, has said he would be willing to meet anyone if it benefited his country. He also said broader negotiations with the United States could be possible under the umbrella of the nuclear deal once the Americans returned to the 2015 accord, which was abandoned in 2018 by
