Tabnak – After achieving a decisive victory in May 19 presidential elections, Hassan Rouhani formally started today his second term as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In his inauguration speech, attended by more than 100 foreign delegates, Rouhani pointed out to the issues related to both his domestic and foreign policies.
Iranian news outlet Press TV reported Saturday afternoon that Hassan Rouhani has been sworn in as Iran's 12th president in the Iranian capital in the presence of the country’s high-ranking officials as well as leaders and senior politicians from around the world.
The inauguration ceremony opened at the Parliament building in Tehran on Saturday with delegates from more than 100 countries, including several heads of state, partaking in it.
Addressing the ceremony, Rouhani thanked world leaders and dignitaries for taking part in the inauguration ceremony. He vowed to follow the Iranian nation’s demands and emphasized that his government is ready to defend the country’s national interests.
The Iranian president then referred to the landmark nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries as an example of national consensus on important issues.
Rouhani said the US has not adhered to its obligations under the JCPOA, stressing that Iran would never initiate the violation of the nuclear deal but would not remain silent in the face of US non-performance of the deal.
He said the US has failed to fulfill its obligations under the JCPOA because it is "addicted to the illegal and ineffective policy of sanctions and threats” and this proved to the world that Washington cannot be trusted.
The issue of JCPOA also mentioned another time by Rouhani during his meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony.
"The recurrent breaches of commitments by the US government and its move to impose new sanctions on Iran have had negative impacts on Iran’s public opinion,” Rouhani said in the meeting. He emphasized that the Iranian Parliament would certainly pass legislation to reciprocate the new US measures.
He said the JCPOA has played a leading role in promoting regional stability and improving Iran’s relations with world countries and added that all sides shoulder a heavy responsibility to safeguard this agreement.
He stressed the importance of the "immediate and complete” implementation of "an important part” of the JCPOA that facilitates Iran’s economic, banking and trade relations with other countries.
"There are very appropriate grounds for investment in Iran in various sectors such as energy, oil, gas and petro-chemistry and we can have good cooperation with Europe in all fields in line with the expansion of relations,” the Iranian president pointed out.
As it could be understood from these remarks, implementing JCPOA and making sure that the Iranian nations could see the real benefits of the deal, is one of Rouhani’s top priorities in his second term.
However, the issue is at the same time one of the great challenges facing him when it comes to recent US moves against the spirit of the deal to implement new restrictions against Iran. The way he will manage the issue could have wide-ranging effects on the directions of his foreign policy as well as domestic approach.
