Ahmadinejad sworn in as Iran's president: radio

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-05 14:09

TEHRAN: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as Iran's president Wednesday, state radio reported, after a disputed re-election that has exposed a deep schism in the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment.

Despite intense political feuding, Ahmadinejad will take his oath of office before parliament and then has two weeks to present a cabinet to the conservative-dominated assembly for approval.

Ahmadinejad sworn in as Iran's president: radio

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) receives a certificate declaring him as president of the Islamic Republic of Iran from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran August 3, 2009. [Agencies]

Opposition websites said supporters of Ahmadinejad's main rival, the moderate Mirhossein Mousavi, were planning to protest against the swearing-in ceremony.

The vote, which Leading moderates say was rigged, sparked Iran's worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The authorities say the vote was "the healthiest" election since the revolution.

Mousavi and fellow defeated moderate candidate Mehdi Karoubi reject the new government as illegitimate, defying Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who backed the election result and endorsed Ahmadinejad.

At a ceremony Monday, Khamenei described Ahmadinejad as "courageous, hardworking and wise."

Leading moderates, including former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, were absent from the ceremony and hundreds of Mousavi supporters gathered at several Tehran squares but were dispersed by riot police.

Ahmadinejad came under pressure from his hardline allies over his initial choice of first vice-president. He delayed for a week before obeying Khamenei's order to dismiss Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaie.

The disarray over Mashaie will likely complicate the president's choice of a new cabinet to present to parliament, which may object if he names only members of his inner circle.

Tehran's diplomatic relations with the rest of the world are determined by the country's paramount authority Khamenei.

Iran accuses the West, particularly the United States and Britain, of having fomented election unrest in the country to try and topple the clerical establishment. Western countries deny the charge.

No change in foreign policy means no change in the standoff between Iran and the West over the country's nuclear program, which the United States and its European allies suspect is a front to build weapons, something Iran denies.