Iran's Raisi Faces Early Tests On Economy, Tension With West

Tehran, Aug 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Aug, 2021 ) :Ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi is to be inaugurated Tuesday as the new president of Iran, a country facing economic and health crises as well as tensions with the West.

He replaces moderate president Hassan Rouhani, whose landmark achievement was the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.

From the outset, Raisi will have to tackle the nuclear talks aimed at reviving the deal from which the United States unilaterally withdrew.

The 60-year-old also faces the United States, Britain and Israel's warnings to Iran over a deadly tanker attack, for which Tehran denies responsibility.

Raisi officially begins his four-year term after his election is endorsed by the Islamic republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He won a presidential poll in June in which more than half the electorate stayed away after many political heavyweights were barred from standing.

A former judiciary chief, Raisi has been criticised by the West for his human rights record.

The inauguration ceremony is to be held at 10:30 am (0600 GMT) at the supreme leader's offices in central Tehran, according to state media.

Traffic limitations are planned on streets around the venue with domestic air travel to and from the capital banned for two hours until noon, media reports said.

On Thursday, Raisi will be sworn in before parliament where he is to submit his proposed government list.