TEHRAN — The leaders of Greece and Georgia have sent messages congratulating Ebrahim Raisi for officially taking over as president.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Monday expressed hope that relations between Athens and Tehran would improve during the Raisi presidency.  

The relationship between Greece and Iran is friendly, historical, and based on mutual respect, the message said. 

Sakellaropoulou also expressed hope that Greece and Iran continue to expand mutual relationship and work for stability, security and prosperity.

Also, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili congratulated Raisi in a message on behalf of Georgia’s people and government.

She underlined that Georgia attaches significant importance to its friendly, close ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran based on mutual respect and cooperation.

In recent days, the presidents of Italy and Portugal as well as the Belgian prime ministers have sent separate message congratulating Iran on the Raisi presidency.
 
Previously a number of European countries including Austria, France, Croatia, Britain, Serbia and Switzerland had sent messages congratulating the election of Raisi as Iran’s new president.

Raisi and French President Emmanuel Macron held an hour-long telephone conversation on Monday. 

Raisi formally started to discharge his duties as president on August 5, after taking the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony held at the Majlis (parliament). Earlier, he was endorsed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei as president during a ceremony known as “Endorsement” (in Persian: Tanfiz).

Raisi won the presidential election in June by a landslide to become the eighth president of Iran. He will form the 13th government of Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. 

Raisi, the former chief of the Judiciary, campaigned on a platform of what can be called a national salvation government. 

Drawing on his anti-corruption drive in the Judiciary, Raisi vowed to counter corruption in the executive branch. He promised to revive the economy and lift millions out of poverty and set the country’s foreign policy on the right track based on principles of dignity, expediency, and wisdom.
 

SA/PA