Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei officially confirmed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of the Islamic Republic on Monday. State television aired images of the ceremony Monday with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving the president his seal of approval.
Ex-presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami as well as defeated reformist candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi did not attend.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 52, won the disputed June 12 presidential election on that led to weeks of demonstrations and riots. He is scheduled to be sworn in on August 5.
According to official Iranian results, Ahmadinejad garnered more than 24 million of 40 million votes. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters, however, charged that there were pervasive election irregularities. Ahmadinejad is expected to face challenges as he moves to assemble a credible government that must be endorsed by parliament.
