Name: Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi | 60 Minutes Archive
Uploaded: 2026-03-01T21:37:53.000Z
Duration: 14 min 5 s
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The United States first placed financial sanctions on Iran back in 1979 during the hostage crisis.

state Department has designated Iran one of the world's leading state sponsors of terrorism.

But the Obama administration, along with five other countries, agreed to billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for Iran's agreement to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its facilities to extensive international inspection.

The Trump administration, distrusting Tehran, pulled out of the deal and stepped up crushing economic pressure.

That's where Ibrahim Raisi found himself when he was elected president a year ago.

Last month, Iran and the 61 year old hardliner were on the verge of striking a new deal.

But then Iran submitted demands that sent the nuclear talks into a stalemate.

We met President Raisi Tuesday at the presidential compound in Tehran for his first interview with a Western reporter.

I was told how to dress, not to sit before he did, and not to interrupt him.

We were given one hour for the interview.

Can we start with the negotiations on the nuclear deal?

Because, you know, there are some American officials who are beginning to think that you don't.

If it's a good deal and fair deal, we would be serious about reaching an agreement.

If there were a guarantee, then the Americans could not withdraw from the deal.

I mean, just as well as we could pull out of the deal.

You see, the Americans broke their promises.

Now making promises is becoming meaningless.

Are you saying that you cannot trust the Americans?

We cannot trust the Americans because of the behavior that we've already seen from them.

That is why if there is no guarantee, there is no trust.

The US says the west can't trust Iran, for instance, when it claims its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.

As far as we can tell, you don't use it for, you know, things that can help your citizens, like electricity.

You say that you want it for peaceful reasons.

In terms of peaceful purposes, one available figure from the UN nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, is that only 1.8% of the country's electricity is generated by nuclear power.

There seems to be some evidence that you had been working at least before toward a bomb.

A bomb, a weapon, and that you might be doing that again.

We have responded to these claims several times.

They are baseless the Islamic Republic of Iran has said many times that possessing nuclear weapons has no place in our doctrine.

However, the US Intelligence community has assessed with high confidence that Iran did attempt to develop a nuclear bomb in the past.

And then there are the American citizens being detained in Tehran, three of whom were born in Iran.

If there is a deal, would you agree to release the four Americans who are being held here from.

There are Iranian nationals also imprisoned inside the U.S.

these people are only in there because they simply tried to circumvent sanctions.

And the Americans, we have told them that we can talk to them about this.

It can be conducted separately from the nuclear talks.

It can be done between the two countries.

You're going to speak at the United Nations.

You know President Biden is going to be there.

Are you open to a meeting with President Biden, A face to face?

No, I don't think that such a meeting would happen.

I don't believe having a meeting or talk with him will be beneficial.

What do you think the difference is from your perspective between the Trump administration and the Biden administration, The new administration in the U.S.

they claim that they are different from the Trump administration.

They have said it in their messages to us, but we haven't witnessed any changes.

His major grievance against President Biden is that he has maintained the sanctions on Iran that President Trump imposed.

This is a tyranny against the people of Iran.

It is important to us to have the sanctions lifted.

The sanctions thrust Iran into a two year recession, mainly because oil exports from refineries like this one fell overnight from 2.8 million barrels a day to about 200,000.

Businesses have been cut off from international banking.

With inflation today in IRAN at over 40%, virtually everything is more expensive.

And yet we found traffic here as clogged as in New York.

And as we saw, Tehran's bazaars are teeming with shoppers.

One reason for the bustling commerce is something the President calls the resistance economy, in which businesses are encouraged to make more of the things themselves that they used to import.

They also have their own version of Uber Eats called Snap Food.

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, dating back to 4000 BC.

It's where the foundations of algebra and chemistry were developed.

Today, while there's attention to religious tradition, tradition in the Islamic Republic, it's one of the most Westernized countries in the Middle east with a well educated population.

This mall could be anywhere in America with an ice skating rink, a food court with hot dogs and burgers, and

And yet President Raisi just signed a decree to making women who don't dress modestly subject to arrest.

A young woman died Friday after the morality police took her into custody for violating the rules on head coverings.

Eyewitnesses say they saw her being beaten while in a police van.

President Raisi's office says he ordered an investigation.

Syed Ibrahim Raisi descends from the Prophet Muhammad, as his black turban signifies, according to Shiite Muslim tradition.

He's a hardline conservative cleric, like his mentor, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.