Iran's New President Pledges Diplomacy to Lift US Sanctions

Iran's new ultraconservative president, Ebrahim Raisi, has taken his oath of office with a promise to pursue diplomacy to secure the lifting of U.S. sanctions, drawing a cautious response from Washington.

Raisi, who previously served as Iranian judiciary chief, was sworn in at the Iranian parliament in a ceremony Thursday, two days after his term officially began with an endorsement from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi, a longtime protege of Khamenei, won a landslide victory in a June presidential election overshadowed by a record-low turnout. Iran's Guardian Council, a body stacked with Khamenei loyalists who vet presidential candidates, had disqualified Raisi's most prominent rivals from running, dampening public interest in the vote. The United States and Iranian opposition activists dismissed Raisi's win as neither free nor fair. "I swear to safeguard the official religion and the establishment of the Islamic Republic and constitution of the nation," Raisi said during the oath ceremony.