Iran

Ahmedinejad's election win confirmed

Article published on the 2009-08-03 Latest update 2009-08-03 16:16 TU

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) receives a certificate declaring him as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) in Tehran 3 August , 2009.
(Photo: Reuters)

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president for a new four-year term. Khamenei described him as a courageous man but told him he must listen to his critics. Some of Iran's main opposition leaders were absent from the ceremony, according to state television.

Khamenei has given his full backing to Ahmadinejad and hailed what he called the president's unprecedented victory on 12 June.

But he warned Ahmadinejad that the opposition is angry and would continue challenging his government.

So he told Ahmedinejad to heed the views of his critics, in a possible reference to a row between the president and his own conservative supporters.

Ahmadinejad, again lashed out at "selfish and meddling" foreign governments over the election crisis in a comment reported by the Fars news agency.

Among those who did not attend Monday's ceremony were Ahmadinejad's defeated rivals Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, along with powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and former reformist president Mohammad Khatami.

Ahmadinejad, who is to be sworn in before parliament on Wednesday, has also come under fire from his own camp, which has questioned his loyalty to Khamenei in a row over a key political appointment.

Ahmadinejad's re-election also created a rift among the clergy, with several senior clerics siding with the opposition and condemning the post-election violence and the regime's treatment of its critics.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old French teaching assistant, Clothilde Reiss remains in Evin jail in Tehran. She was arrested on 1 July 2009, in the aftermath of the demonstrations after Iran's June election. She's been accused of working illegally and of having sent photos of the protests to another French person living in Iran.