"We hope that the actions that we are going to take will improve the conditions of the lives of the people and return hope to the people, restoring the trust that has been undermined due to different reasons," Ebrahim Raisi said in a press conference in Tehran, his first public comments since he was declared victor in Friday's presidential election.
Raisi, the chief justice, secured nearly 62 percent of the vote, but the election was marred by low turnout and a certain outcome weeks before ballots were cast.
Raisi emphasized national unity, economic development, and combatting corruption and poverty. He will inherit an economy crippled under United States sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, high unemployment, and soaring inflation.
Washington imposed a "maximum pressure" sanctions regime on Iran after former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear accord in 2018, in a bid to force Tehran to renegotiate a new, broader deal that would also include its ballistic missile program and regional activities.
Trump's successor Joe Biden wants to return to the deal and talks are ongoing in Vienna for the US to lift sanctions and Iran to walk back steps it took to increase nuclear activities after Washington imposed sanctions.
"We don't want negotiations for the sake of negotiations," Raisi said of the talks in Vienna. "We want negotiations that bear results."
The latest round of talks wrapped up on Sunday with Tehran's chief negotiator saying a lot of the hard work has been done.
Iran lost more than $100 billion in oil revenues under three years of US sanctions and the pandemic.
Raisi also said his foreign policy would focus on "expansive and balanced interactions" globally. He said there are "no obstacles to ties with Saudi Arabia" and ruled out a meeting with Biden.
"The world should know that the foreign policy of our government is not going to start with the JCPOA and is not going to end with the JCPOA," he said, using the formal name for the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
International human rights organizations condemned Raisi's election, saying he should be investigated for crimes against humanity for his role in 1988 prison massacres when some 5,000 people were extrajudicially executed.
Asked about the killings, Raisi on Monday defended his record. "All that I have done through my years of service has always been towards defending human rights," he said.
