Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
(L) is sworn in as he stands next to Iran's judiciary chief Mahmoud
Hashemi Shahrudi during a ceremony in front of parliament in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad was sworn in as Iranian president as riot police broke up
opposition protests over an election that triggered the worst turmoil in
the Islamic republic's history.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in Wednesday for a second term amid prolonged controversy over his landslide victory in the June 12 presidential election.
Ahmadinejad formally took oath of office in a ceremony in the Iranian parliament on Wednesday morning.
Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV said "almost all parliament members, including the minority (reformist) factions" participated in the ceremony.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the Iranian parliament after he was sworn in for a second term amid prolonged controversy over his landslide victory in the presidential election in Tehran, Aug. 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz) Photo Gallery>>>
Attended by Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, President Ahmadinejad cited his oath and vowed to use all means of power to serve the country, Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment.
"I swear to protect the official faith, the system of the Islamic Revolution and the constitution ... and devote myself to serving the people," Ahmadinejad said during his swearing-in ceremony, broadcast live on state TV.
Addressing the lawmakers as well as other senior domestic and foreign officials who attended the ceremony, Ahmadinejad said the election was an "epic which would be the start of major changes in Iran and the world."
Tehran would continue its "active role in the international arena," Ahmadinejad said.
As a signal to the Westerners that he is still persisting his slogans, Ahmadinejad said Iran will resist the world's "oppressive powers."
"We will resist oppressive powers and try to correct the global discriminatory mechanisms in our efforts to benefit the whole world," he said at the ceremony chaired by Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.
He also dismissed some Western leaders' refusal to send congratulatory messages to him. "No one is waiting for the congratulatory messages from the Western leaders," he said.
Larijani also criticized the West's "hasty" response to Iran's post-election events, the satellite Press TV reported.
"Certain Western powers ridiculed themselves with their hasty behavior towards (Iran's) post-election events," Larijani was quoted as saying.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama's spokesmen, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said respectively their leaders would not congratulate the Iranian president.
Larijani also urged Iranian officials to strengthen their unity. "This convergence will send a message to the West that the Iranian nation will remain united to foil the enemy's plots," he said.
As the swearing-in ceremony took place, hundreds of policemen and Basij paramilitary volunteer forces were deployed around the parliament to prevent opposition protests.
Witnesses said that the neighborhood stores were almost closed and Iranian security forces dispersed some protestors who gathered in nearby streets.
According to the official IRNA news agency, there was no "disturbance of the peace" on major streets in Tehran on Wednesday morning.
Shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi said that the opposition movement will go on resistance.
Mousavi said that arrests of protestors will not affect the opposition movement, according to a message posted on his official website ghalamnews.
"Some thought that if the masterminds of the opposition movement are arrested, the question (movement) will be eliminated," Mousavi said, "but the living movement showed that the physical elimination and the arrests will not affect this (opposing) movement."
In the wake of the disputed June 12 presidential election, more than 1,000 protestors and dozens of reformist activists were reportedly arrested. The authorities said that most of them have been released.
Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots in the June 12 presidential election, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent, the Iranian Interior Ministry said on June 13.
After the official declaration, all the three defeated candidates filed complaints over irregularities in the election, and Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have demanded an annulment of the election.
Mousavi's supporters have participated in massive rallies in Tehran and other cities following the disputes.
Earlier on Monday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei (L) formally endorses Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) as president in
Tehran, capital of Iran, Aug. 3, 2009. (Xinhua photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
TEHRAN,
Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally
endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president on Monday against the backdrop of
opposition leaders' outcry for investigating the disputed presidential elections
in June, the English-language Press TV reported.
"Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has
just endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's next president," Press TV said. Full story
TEHRAN, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran put 10 more post-election
"rioters" on trial on Sunday, the local ISNA news agency reported.
10 more cases of post-election "rioters" were put on
trial in a revolutionary court in Tehran on Sunday, ISNA quoted an unidentified
judiciary official as saying. Full story
TEHRAN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran Saturday began trials
of the "rioters" who were arrested in the disputed presidential election
unrests, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA said the trials had begun in a revolutionary
court, without mentioning the exact number of the "rioters." Local Fars news
agency reported that about 100 suspects were in the dock. Full story
TEHRAN, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad on Friday said that there were no discord between him and Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"The enemies' dream of seeing differences between the
supreme leader and the president of Iran would never be fulfilled," Ahmadinejad
was quoted as saying at a meeting of academics in the northeastern city of
Mashhad. Full story
