TEHRAN (Iran News) – Revolutionary Values, Top Priorities of New President. Iran’s President-elect Hojjatoleslam Raisi held his first press conference yesterday after clinching a landslide victory in the June 28 presidential election and in his opening remarks he said the Iranian nation voiced their message to the world through the presidential poll, noting that “one message was national unity and coherence.”

“The message of the Iranian nation was the necessity of a change in the economic situation,” he said.

The message of the Iranian nation, he continued, was the need to fight corruption, poverty and discrimination, and in one word the realization of justice in all aspects of the people’s lives.

“This vast and meaningful presence of the people occurred in spite of the coronavirus situation and hostilities and the psychological warfare of Iran’s enemies,” he said.

Raisi said the message of the Iranian nation is insistence on the values of the glorious Islamic Revolution and steadfastness on the path of the late founder of the Revolution, Imam Khomeini, and the martyrs, especially General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in January 2020 by the United States.

He said the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran has failed to bring the Iranian nation to their knees.

His government, Raisi said, will not pursue attritional talks with world powers with the aim of bringing the United States back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Washington abandoned in 2018 under former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Raisi said the U.S. must remove the sanctions in a verifiable way in order for Tehran to reverse the nuclear steps it took in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

He said the current negotiating team involved in the ongoing talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna, will continue to hold the negotiations as the transition to the new administration takes place.

Raisi urged the U.S. to return to its commitments under the nuclear deal, known by its acronym as the JCPOA, noting that the Iranian people have shown resistance and perseverance in the face of the maximum pressure campaign, which included tough economic sanctions targeting the people’s livelihood.

“The foreign policy of our administration will not start from the JCPOA nor will it be restricted to the JCPOA,” he said, stressing that he intends to develop constructive and balanced relations with all countries.

Raisi said any negotiation that secures Iran’s national interests will be supported by his administration, but “we will not tie the economic situation and people’s [livelihood] to these negotiations and we will not allow talks for the sake of talks.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Raisi pledged to bring back the lost public trust in the Iranian government, saying he hopes people will feel that his administration is the administration of bringing hope and building trust.

The president-elect promised that his administration will not be limited to a specific political party or group, pledging that he will be open to any governmental manager who is a patriot and wants to serve the people and the Islamic Revolution.

“Anyone whose heart beats for the people and the Revolution will be our partner everywhere in the country,” he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to foreign policy, saying, “The world should know that the situation has changed with this epic presence of the dear people of Iran. To date, the maximum pressure on our people has not worked, they must reconsider and return [their commitments]. Our nation has shown resistance to the pressures, and the world should know that our government’s foreign policy does not start with the JCPOA because it will not be limited to the JCPOA.”

“We will pursue interaction with all countries of the world as a principle of broad and balanced interaction in foreign policy and in any negotiation in which national interests are guaranteed, this negotiation will certainly be supported, but we will not tie the economic situation and the conditions of the people to the negotiations,” he underlined.

“We will not allow negotiations to take place in face of other negotiation, we will not allow negotiations to be eroding. Every meeting should have benefits for the great nation of Iran. Then we will continue negotiations in order to remove restrictions and sanctions,” Raisi said.

In response to a question by Euro News correspondent about the importance of the JCPOA to his administration and his message to the United States and Europe, Raisi reiterated, “European countries and the United States must consider what they have done to the JCPOA; The United States violated the deal and the Europeans did not fulfill their obligations.”

“The U.S. should return to the JCPOA and fulfil all its commitments to the nuclear deal. The Europeans must not be influenced by American pressure and act on what they have promised; This is the demand of the Iranian nation from them,” he added.

In response to a question from a Press TV correspondent who asked about his plan to revive the JCPOA and force the United States to lift sanctions, the president-elect stated, “What has been the policy of the Islamic Republic and it has been stated many times is that our nuclear actions are peaceful actions and in line with the rules that this science and knowledge have in various fields of industry, agriculture and medicine. The actions of the Islamic Republic so far have been taken in accordance with the declarations of international organizations within the framework of laws and regulations.”

“Despite the fact that the actions of the Islamic Republic, according to their own statement, were carried out within the framework of the regulations, why do they place obstacles and problems in the way of Iran’s nuclear actions, while they have repeatedly admitted that Iran’s nuclear actions have not had any problems so far,” he noted.

The President-elect said on the issue of relations with Saudi Arabia, “Relations with all countries of the world, especially relations with neighboring countries are important to us; Our priority will be relations with our neighbors, and there is no obstacle on the part of the Islamic Republic regarding the reopening of embassies between the two countries in relation to Saudi Arabia.”

“We have been pursuing relations with China since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution and various governments, and today we have good relations with China and there is a lot of potential between the two countries,” said Raisi in response to the Chinese correspondent.

“We will definitely work to revive these capacities and have very good relations with China, and the comprehensive plan will be one of the documents, and the implementation of this plan will definitely be on the agenda,” he added.