The Islamic Republic of Iran likes to argue that the United States is not a reliable diplomatic partner. It is therefore no surprise that after hardliner Ebrahim Raisi was elected as the country’s next president, Iran added a new precondition to rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “We need guarantees that . . . a repeat of these sanctions and exiting the nuclear deal, as the past U.S. government did, won’t happen again,” declared Iran’s lead negotiator, Seyed Abbas Araqchi.
