Ahmadinejad sworn in as president
Agence France-Presse
August 05, 2009 04:52pm
President ... Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the oath of office for another four-year term at a ceremony in Parliament / AP
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- Vows to resist "oppressive powers"
- In office for another four years
- Two-week deadline to form new goverment
MAHMOUD Ahmadinejad has been sworn in as the Iranian President as riot police broke up opposition protests over an election that triggered the worst turmoil in the Islamic republic's history.
The 52-year-old hardliner took the oath of office for another four-year term at a ceremony in Parliament, defiantly vowing to resist "oppressive powers'' and saying his June election marked a major change in Iran.
Mr Ahmadinejad now has a two-week deadline to form a new government that is likely to remain on a collision course with the West, particularly over Iran's controversial nuclear drive.
"We will resist oppressors and try to correct the global discriminatory mechanisms in order to benefit all the nations of the world,'' Mr Ahmadinejad told Parliament.
"The June 12 epic is the start of major change in Iran and in the world.''
Prominent Opposition leaders were absent from the ceremony, and outside riot police and Basij volunteer Islamic militiamen used pepper gas against demonstrators who claim his landslide victory was fraudulent, witnesses said.
"The protesters were chanting anti-Ahmadinejad slogans. The police and the Basijis dispersed them. All the nearby shops are closed,'' a witness said.
Another group tried to demonstrate nearby but were also dispersed as protesters chanted "God is Great'' and booed the security forces.
Today's ceremony was attended by about 240 of Iran's 290 MPs as well as clerics, but prominent Opposition leaders including Mr Ahmadinejad's main defeated challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi were absent, as was powerful cleric and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
His re-election set off massive street protests, deadly violence, a raft of political trials, increasing divisions among the ruling elite and further isolated Iran on the world stage.
About 30 people were killed in the violence, hundreds wounded and around 2000 initially arrested, while around 110 have been put on trial.
Mr Ahmadinejad's presidency was formally endorsed on Monday by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who described him as "courageous, astute and hardworking''.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs yesterday acknowledged Mr Ahmadinejad as the "elected'' President of Iran, but stopped short of declaring him the "legitimate'' president and said Washington had no plans to congratulate him.
"This means they only want democracy which serves their interests and they don't respect people's votes and rights,'' Mr Ahmadinejad said.
"You should know that nobody in Iran is awaiting your congratulations. Iranians will neither value your scowling and bullying nor your smiles and greetings.''
Under President Barack Obama, the US has made overtures for dialogue with Iran after three decades of severed ties, but Tehran has failed to respond and vowed to press on with its nuclear work.
