Iran's Raisi says 'no' to prospect of meeting Biden

Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi Monday said he has no intention of meeting US President Joe Biden, even as their countries are engaged in indirect negotiations to revive a nuclear deal.

"No," said Raisi to a question from American media on whether he would meet Biden in the event that these talks lead to the US lifting sanctions on Iran, and in order to "fix" the problems between the arch-enemies.

The 60-year-old won Friday's presidential elections with 60 percent of the vote as the top candidate of the hardliners camp.
After most competitive candidates were weeded out by the electoral body, Raisi stood practically unopposed for election.
Participation was at a record low at below 50 percent, which observers a move to boycott the election.
Raisi, an arch-conservative cleric who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is accused of human rights abuses, is set to be inaugurated in August.
Weeks of negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal - which has been in tatters since former US president Donald Trump pulled the country out of the accord in 2018 - have shown no sign of breakthrough after six rounds of talks in Vienna and it remains unclear how Raisi's win will affect them.