(Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he will “spare no effort” in his push for the US to remove economic sanctions, as a top European Union envoy arrived in Tehran for talks with officials.
The Islamic Republic has an “absolute right” to normal economic and trade relations with the rest of the world, the reformist leader said Tuesday in his first major public speech since his election win earlier this month.
Pezeshkian, 69, didn’t explicitly mention the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers over its nuclear program, which temporarily secured sanctions relief, but has pledged to revive the now-defunct accord.
Addressing foreign dignitaries — including high-ranking officials from Iran-backed militant groups Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad — Pezeshkian delivered a fierce rebuke of Israel and its military bombardment of Gaza, prompting cheers and applause from the audience at his inauguration ceremony in Tehran.
Pezeshkian has said that he wants to improve Iran’s economy and relationship with the West while stressing the need to build a domestic consensus. Iran’s political system has been deeply divided over the terms and legacy of the nuclear accord, in part due to the economic fallout.
“My administration will not surrender to bullying and pressure,” he said. “Two decades’ worth of experience in talks shows that we have remained committed to obligations. Sanctions and pressure won’t yield results and the Iranian people should be spoken to with respect,” Pezeshkian said.
The landmark nuclear agreement collapsed after the US walked away from the deal six years ago. The Donald Trump administration opposed the agreement and imposed a much tougher sanctions regime on Iran that triggered a major economic crisis.
In response, Iran ramped-up its atomic activities way beyond the limits set out by the deal.
Earlier on Tuesday, Enrique Mora, the European Union’s diplomat in charge of nuclear negotiations with Iran, arrived in Tehran for talks with officials, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.
Mora led the last round of discussions aimed at reviving the accord, which was between Tehran and world powers including the US. Those stalled in August 2022 under the hard-line government of late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
According to ISNA, Mora will meet Abbas Araghchi, a former deputy foreign minister who local media has said is a frontrunner to lead Pezeshkian’s foreign ministry when he appoints his cabinet in the coming weeks.
Israel-Hezbollah
Pezeshkian’s inauguration comes as attacks between Israel and Hezbollah threaten to escalate into full-blown war and further destabilize the region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing a response to a rocket attack that killed a dozen young people in a Syrian Druze town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Suggestions the missile came from Hezbollah are “ridiculous” and intended to justify an expansion of the war in the Middle East, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday.
Attending Pezeshkian’s inauguration were the prime ministers of Armenia and Georgia, the president of Tajikistan and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and South Africa.
Front row guests included the leaders of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the deputy leader of Hezbollah — all listed as terrorist organizations by the US. Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State, Prince Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdulaziz, is also attending the event alongside Peng Qinghua, special envoy for China’s President Xi Jinping.
--With assistance from Patrick Sykes.
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