Israel calls Iran's new president 'extremist’

ISTANBUL

Israel has termed Iran’s newly elected President Ebrahim Raeisi as an "extremist" leader who is committed to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“Iran’s new president, known as the Butcher of Tehran, is an extremist responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iranians. He is committed to the regime’s nuclear ambitions and to its campaign of global terror,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said.

Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat, meanwhile, said in a Twitter post that the election of Raeisi shows Iran’s "true" intentions of becoming a nuclear power.

Raeisi is an “extremist figure, committed to Iran’s rapidly advancing military nuclear program, his election makes clear Iran's true malign intentions, and should prompt grave concern among the international community,” Haiat said, calling on the international community to “immediately” halt Iran’s nuclear program.

Raeisi, the ultra-conservative judiciary chief, garnered 17.92 million votes in Friday's election, defeating his three rivals in a landslide victory.

Voter turnout, according to the Interior Ministry, was 48.8%, the lowest in Iran’s history.

In 2018, former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, in a move aimed to bring Tehran back to negotiations for what Trump hoped would be a "better" deal.

Talks between Iran and Western powers on reviving the pact have been ongoing in Vienna recently.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara