Iranians Denied "Free And Fair" Election: US As Iran Elects New President

However, an official said US will continue indirect talks with Iran on the US rejoining the 2015 nuclear accord that Donald Trump had abandoned.

The United States said Saturday it regretted Iranians were not able to participate in a "free and fair electoral process" in the country's presidential election. In the first reaction from Washington to ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi's election win, a State Department spokesperson said "Iranians were denied their right to choose their own leaders in a free and fair electoral process." The United States will nonetheless continue indirect talks with Iran on the US rejoining the 2015 nuclear accord that Donald Trump abandoned, the spokesperson also said. In Iran's election, many political heavyweights were barred from running. Raisi is seen as close to 81-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate political power in Iran.