In front of international representatives from over 70 countries, Ebrahim Raisi will be sworn in as Iran's president on Thursday afternoon at the country's parliament.

Raisi was sworn in as president in the Islamic Republic's legislative branch on Tuesday, following a ceremony in which the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, formally marked him as president in front of mostly Iranian domestic officials.
While Tuesday's ceremony appears to have formalized Raisi's formal ascension to power as Tehran's top decision-maker, Thursday's ceremony appears to be more focused on introducing him to the rest of the world.

Iran also announced that fewer domestic authorities will attend the ceremony on Thursday to make place for foreign guests and to comply with current coronavirus distance requirements.

Due to the presence of international participants, Khamenei and Raisi made a substantial number of internal religious references at Tuesday's ceremony, which may be less prominent in Thursday's ceremony.

Raisi first promised to take steps to end the US's "tyrannical sanctions."

It's uncertain whether he'll take a more conciliatory stance in front of world leaders or stick to his hostile stance with the West.

Seyyed Nezam Al-Din Mousavi, the spokesman for the Iranian Parliament, claimed on Monday that 115 officials from 73 countries will attend Raisi's ceremony on Thursday and that many of them had already arrived on Thursday morning.

Khamenei attempted to downplay the low voter turnout in his Tuesday speech, boasting that Iran had a more effective and peaceful transition of power than other countries. He accused foreign foes of conspiring to keep voters away from the polling booths but tried to salvage face by claiming that, given the challenging circumstances, including the coronavirus epidemic, the turnout was still good enough.

Khamenei ignored the reality that the majority of eligible voters boycotted the election because all of Raisi's significant competitors were disqualified by Khamenei's own Guardian Council.

Raisi won the June 18 election with more than 60% of the vote, despite the disqualification of all key competitors, including two top officials, an incumbent vice president, and a former parliamentary speaker, who were thought to have a strong chance against him at the time.

Although outgoing President Hassan Rouhani easily defeated Raisi in 2017, his second-place performance and background as the head of the country's judiciary, as well as a seat on the Assembly of Experts, which picks the next supreme leader, put him in a good position for a rematch.

“Ten presidents, twenty speakers of parliament, 11 foreign ministers, ten other ministers, envoys of presidents, vice presidents, and parliamentary delegations will attend the inauguration ceremony on Thursday,” Mousavi stated, according to Iranian media.

He went on to say that the heads and officials of 11 international and regional organizations, including the UN secretary-representative general's and the president of OPEC, as well as officials from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), European Union, Eurasian Economic Union, Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), and D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, would be present.

The EU has been chastised by Israel for sending a delegation to the ceremony, which takes place less than a week after a British and a Romanian national were killed in a drone raid on an Israeli-operated oil tanker in the Arabian Sea, which Tehran has been blamed for.

Raisi has also faced penalties or criminal procedures in other nations for his role in the mass murders of his own people in the 1980s.

The new Iranian president has thrown the nuclear talks to return to the 2015 JCPOA agreement off track. For the most of April and May, it appeared like Iran, the United States, and other world powers were on the verge of reaching a virtually unavoidable agreement, with the only question being whether it would be before or after the June 18 presidential election. Before he was confirmed in the election, Raisi even showed grudging support for a return to the pact.

Since his victory, however, all messages from Iran, particularly from Khamenei, have taken a much tougher stance, demanding concessions from the US that would prevent it from reimposing sanctions in the future, effectively cutting off any attempt to make the deal “longer and stronger,” as Washington has promised.

In recent days, Iranian media has concentrated on Raisi's religious credentials, positioning him as a possible successor to Khamenei, who is 82 years old and has suffered from health concerns in recent years.

“Representatives and prominent figures from a variety of world religions and sects were also invited. Important Islamic cultural and social heavyweights will also be there, and these personalities will come in Tehran in the coming days,” Mousavi said in an interview with Iranian media.

Ayatollahs rule Iran, which is a theocracy. Raisi would need to establish more clout as a religious expert in order to succeed Khamenei as supreme leader. On June 30, the Iranian website Mehr published a long story on Raisi, suggesting more collaboration between the Abrahamic faiths and highlighting his religious credentials, claiming that in his new presidential capacity, he would be a prominent proponent for such an issue.

On the same hand, some of the religious prominences may be a smokescreen, as Khamenei rose to the position of supreme leader despite the fact that he competed against numerous significant religious personalities who were viewed as far bigger experts in religion.

Even the Mehr piece on cooperating with Abrahamic faiths appeared to be based in part on a July 21 meeting between Raisi and a Vatican official, with a Raisi spokesman linking it to an attempt to effect a divide between the Vatican and other Western powers.

According to the Mehr story, Raisi's suggestion appeared to be focused mostly on persuading the Vatican to support Iran's narratives against Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemeni Sunnis, and Christian-American Evangelists over regional conflicts.