Nearly eight weeks after Iran’s disputed election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as President last Wednesday. Riot police were deployed near the parliament building, where... More Below...
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Nearly eight weeks after Iran’s disputed election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as President last Wednesday.
Riot police were deployed near the parliament building, where he was sworn into office, to foil any protests by opponents who say the election was rigged.
Ahmadinejad, 53, declared at the ceremony, “I, as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, swear before the holy Koran and the Iranian nation and God to be the guardian of the official religion, the Islamic Republic and the constitution.”
Former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani boycotted the inauguration, because they support Ahmadinejad’s main political rival, Mirhossein Mousavi.
Most of parliament’s 70 reformist legislators also stayed away, the official IRNA news agency said.
A witness reported seeing hundreds of Mousavi supporters in the vicinity of parliament, but no clashes with the riot police and Basij militia there. Police arrested at least 10 protesters, the witness said, adding that mobile phones had been cut off.
(via Reuters)
