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Iran: Ahmadinejad becomes president
3.8.2005
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Tehran, 3 August
(AKI) - The ultra-conservative former mayor of
Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been confirmed in
office as the new president of Iran. He was endorsed
by the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei in a ceremony on Wednesday morning, but
will take the oath of office in parliament on
Saturday.
The 48-year-old hardliner was elected in June. Few
expected him to win, but a run-off vote saw him
secure a surprising 10 million more votes than the
moderate cleric and former president Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani, who reacted angrily to the result saying
there had been a dirty tricks campaign. |
Ahmadinejad
Photo: AP |
Ahmadinejad himself called his victory a blow to his
country's enemies, and said he wanted to "build up
an exemplary, developed and powerful Islamic
society." He replaces Mohammad Khatami, who has been
president since 1997.
Ahmadinejad was elected Mayor of Tehran two years
ago with the votes of just four per cent of the
city's citizens. A former member of the Pasdaran
revolutionary guard - the elite hardline armed force
that answers directly to the country's supreme
leader - he was part of the Al Quds Battalion, which
was responsible for operations abroad. He is
suspected of having participated in operations in
western Europe and the Austrian police say he is a
suspect in the killing of three Iranian Kurdish
leaders in an ambush on the outskirts of the
Austrian capital Vienna.
His first challenge will be tackling the row between
Iran and the European Union over the country's
nuclear programme. This week Iran announced it is
resuming nuclear activities, prompting the EU, UN
and US - who believe the country is planning to
develop nuclear weapons - to threaten to send Iran's
case to the United Nations Security Council for
possible sanctions.
He has already submitted a list of names of his new
government to parliament, most of whom are thought
to be hardliners like himself.
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