US President-elect Joe Biden set to be inaugurated
President-elect Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated today as the 46th President of the United States.
The ceremony in Washington DC has been scaled back due to the ongoing pandemic and security concerns following the siege of the Capitol two weeks ago—25,000 National Guard troops have been deployed and large sections of the District have been closed to the public. Only 1,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony.
A raft of executive orders is expected shortly after to reverse key policy positions of the outgoing Trump administration. The largest reversal would see the US reengage Iran to bring it back into compliance with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. European allies, with whom President-elect Biden is seeking to rebuild relationships, also appear amenable to reviving the deal. This would entail repealing sanctions that prohibit companies using the US financial system from doing business with Iran—European businesses in particular have been severely affected. Tehran has stated that repealing sanctions must preempt any new negotiations, however, doing so would forfeit a powerful bargaining chip for the Biden administration. Expect negotiations to be hard-fought in the short and medium-term with durable progress made possible through multilateral engagement.
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