US expects no change under Iran's new president

The United States does not expect any fundamental change under Iran’s new president, the State Department said yesterday.

Reformist candidate and former Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s 5 July presidential run-off with 53.7 per cent of the vote, becoming the country’s ninth president.

“We have no expectations that this election will lead to a fundamental change in Iran’s direction or its policies. At the end of the day, it’s not the president that has the ultimate say over the future of Iran’s policy. It’s the supreme leader,” spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“Obviously, if the new president had the authority to make steps to curtail Iran’s nuclear programme, to stop funding terrorism, to stop destabilising activities in the region, those would be steps that we would welcome,” said Miller. “But needless to say, we don’t have any expectation that that’s what’s likely to ensue.”

Asked whether the US was ready to resume nuclear talks with Tehran, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “No.”

Iran’s presidential election followed a fatal helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan province on 19 May which claimed the lives of the country’s then-President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“We will see what this man wants to achieve, but we do not expect any change in Iranian behaviour,” Kirby said.

Joe Biden became president in 2021, hoping to return to the international agreement concluded with Iran in 2015 regarding its nuclear program, however, the talks have faltered.

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