Raisi sworn in as Iran president

Tehran: New President Ebrahim Raisi takes the oath before parliament on Thursday, with Iran facing an economy battered by US sanctions, a grinding health crisis and thorny negotiations on its nuclear programme.

The former judiciary chief officially began his four-year mandate on Tuesday when he was inaugurated by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi takes over from moderate Hassan Rouhani, whose landmark achievement during his two-term presidency was the 2015 nuclear agreement between the Islamic republic and six world powers.

Raisi, who won office in a June 18 election marked by record abstention after many heavyweights were barred from standing, is set to be sworn in before parliament at 5:00 pm (1230 GMT).

Traffic limitations are to be imposed on streets around the parliament and flights suspended for two and a half hours in Tehran and the adjacent provinces of Alborz and Qazvin, state TV said.

Iran has been grappling with a deep economic and social crisis following former president Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the nuclear deal in 2018 and impose crushing sanctions.

In response, Tehran pulled back from most of its main commitments in the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. "We believe the people’s economic position is unfavourable, both because of the hostility of our enemies and because of the shortcomings and problems inside the country," Raisi said on Tuesday.