June 25, 2021
President-elect Ebrahim Raisi held his first news conference three days after the election and failed to change any Rohani Administration policies, presumably because they are the policies of the Supreme Leader. The international media mainly focused on two of Raisi’s remarks. First, they noted that Raisi refused to meet with President Biden. But the Supreme Leader bars any such meetings. (Biden has not asked to meet with Iran’s president either.) Second, the media noted that Raisi refused to discuss Iran’s missile program or interventions in the Arab world with the West. The Rohani Administration has said the same thing for months on end.