Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in Tuesday as Iran’s new president, vowing in his inaugural address that he would work to remove the economic sanctions imposed by the West on Iran over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.
“I will not stop trying to remove the oppressive sanctions,” Pezeshkian, a longtime lawmaker who also is a heart surgeon, said at the swearing-in ceremony in Iran’s parliament in Tehran, the capital. “Pressure and sanctions will not work on the Iranian nation.”
The Western sanctions on Iran have affected the country’s ability to export its oil, impacted its international banking capabilities and escalated inflation.
Iran has faced increasing pressure over its nuclear program. A historic nuclear accord with major world powers was reached in 2015. But in 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the deal amid concerns that Iran was enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons.
Iran, however, has always insisted that it uses its nuclear capacities for peaceful scientific exploration.
On Tuesday, the day that the newly elected Iranian president announced his intention to have Western sanctions dismantled, Washington announced more sanctions on five individuals and seven entities based in Iran, China and Hong Kong that have “facilitated procurements on behalf of subordinates of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
The Treasury said the people and entities have procured "various components,” including accelerometers and gyroscopes, which the Washington agency said are key components in Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program.
“Iran’s acquisition of critical missile and UAV components continues to enable its proliferation of weapons systems to its proxies in the Middle East and to Russia,” the statement said.
Earlier this year, Iran launched a direct attack on Israel because of Israel’s war on Gaza. In addition, the militia group Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, armed by Iran, have stepped up their attacks on Israel.
Pezeshkian made it clear in his address that Iran is a supporter of Palestinians in the Middle East Conflict.
“Iran demands a world where no Palestinian child’s dreams are buried under the rubble of their home,” he said. “We are seeking a world where the proud people of Palestine are freed from occupation, oppression and imprisonment and genocide.”
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has officially endorsed Pezeshkian.
The presidential election in July was mounted after Ebrahim Raisi, the previous president, was killed in a helicopter crash.
The U.S. has criticized the election as neither free nor fair, saying it likely would not change the Islamic Republic’s stance on human rights.
Some information for this story is from The Associated Press.
