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Iran’s only reformist candidate in the presidential election has vowed to try to resolve the conflict with world powers over the nuclear deal “at the first opportunity” if elected.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Abdolnaser Hemmati, a former central bank governor who is fighting hard-line rivals in Friday’s vote, said that if he won his priorities would be the reactivation of the 2015 nuclear deal, an agreement to lift US sanctions and attract foreign investment.
“If the US returns to its commitments under the JCPOA [the nuclear accord] and Iran can verify that sanctions have been lifted. . . it would be an important step towards building trust between Iran and the US, ”he said.
Polls suggest Hemmati is running a distant second ahead of his main rival, Ebrahim Raisi, and the odds seem stacked against his chances of a shocking victory. But the 64-year-old said he had already asked Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s top diplomat and one of the architects of the nuclear deal, to form part of his government.
He added that if sanctions were lifted and conditions improved, “a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden would not be impossible.” “It simply came to our notice then [the possibility of talks with the US] but it will depend on the behavior and the facts of the United States, ”he said. “My priority is to lift the sanctions. That is very important, “he added.
Hemmati’s comments underscore what is at stake in the election and highlight the differences between the reformist and his tough rivals after four years of hostilities between Tehran and the Trump administration.
Raisi, the leader, has suggested that if he wins, he will support the ongoing negotiations between Tehran and the remaining signatories to the nuclear deal (UK, France, Germany, Russia and China) that seek to reach an agreement that will lead to the reinstatement of the US agreement and the abolition of sanctions.
But analysts say Raisi, the head of the judiciary, is expected to take a much more conservative approach and not prioritize relations with Western states. Raisi has said his focus will be on strengthening domestic industrial production. This puts him more in line with the stance articulated by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, which many Iranians suspect favors Raisi. While Khamenei has the final say on all crucial foreign and security policies, the president may influence the direction Iran takes.
Outgoing President Hassan Rouhani signed the nuclear deal in 2015 under which Tehran agreed to strict limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for the US removing sanctions. But the deal collapsed after Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions on the republic. Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign led Iran into a spiraling recession, severely weakened the reformists who supported the deal, and encouraged hardline leaders who resisted engagement with the U.S.
Biden has vowed to rejoin the deal if Iran fully fulfills the agreement again. But any possibility of easing hostilities is complicated by Iran’s refusal to make concessions on its support for regional militant groups and its increasingly sophisticated missile program.
Hemmati, a soft-spoken technocrat who headed the central bank during the crisis, said the Iranian economy could withstand sanctions. But he added that US punitive measures would prevent the republic from developing at the pace needed to deal with Iran’s economic problems.
“We cannot have a fast and solid economic development in a closed atmosphere. We need foreign technology, investment and financing, ”he said. “Foreign policy should serve Iran’s economic development, which would be my government’s number one priority.”
Analysts say Hemmati’s only chance of victory is if Raisi fails to secure more than 50 percent of the vote. Then there would be a second round and pro-democracy Iranians could vote in greater numbers to support Hemmati.
His last-minute candidacy for the presidency gained importance after authorities banned all major reformist candidates. But their campaign has been undermined by the sense of hopelessness of many Iranians after the turmoil of the past three years and by what they perceive as a breach of promises that the nuclear deal would bring prosperity and end years of isolation. As a result, many reformist supporters say they will boycott the election amid predictions that turnout could be the lowest for a presidential contest since the 1979 revolution.
The Iranian elections have a history of unpredictability and people close to Hemmati say they remain optimistic. But their hopes depend on convincing disillusioned voters that their ballots can make a difference.
“The relationship between the people and the state has weakened – it’s a fact. I ran to tell people I can change, ”he said.
He described the vote as a “day of destiny”. “You can open some windows of hope to people, we shouldn’t let them close,” he said. “If that happens, it’s not clear when they will reopen and what will happen before these windows reopen.”
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