According to the State Department on Monday, the US does not anticipate any significant changes under the new Iranian president.
Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist and the former minister of health, won 53.7% of the vote in the July 5 presidential runoff, making him the ninth president of Iran.
“We do not anticipate that Iran’s policies or direction will change significantly as a result of this election. Ultimately, the president does not hold the final word on Iran’s policy going forward. It’s the ultimate leader,” press secretary Matthew Miller declared.
“Obviously, if the new president had the authority to make steps to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, to stop funding terrorism, to stop destabilizing activities in the region, those would be steps that we would welcome,” Miller stated. “But needless to say, we don’t have any expectation that that’s what’s likely to ensue.”
The country’s then-President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian perished in a catastrophic helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan province on May 19, just days before Iran’s presidential election.