Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assumes Iranian presidency
TEHERAN, August 3 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terekhov) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office today as Iran's new president. The first of a two-part inauguration ceremony was held in a central mosque and began traditionally with a reading from the Koran. In accordance with article 110 of the country's constitution, Iran's supreme spiritual leader and head of state Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signed a decree endorsing Ahmadinejad as the new president.
Khamenei, the heads of the country's judicial and legislative branches, senior officials, and foreign guests attended the ceremony.
August 3, 2005 is the first working day for Ahmadinejad as head of Iran's executive branch. His term of office is four years.
Ahmadinejad replaced Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami. Ahmadinejad will be sworn in on Saturday in a more traditional inauguration ceremony.
Ahmadinejad was born in 1956 in the city of Garmsar in Iran's northern province of Semnan. He graduated from Iran's University of Science and Technology (Teheran) specializing in urban engineering and planning and worked for some time as a journalist for an Iranian newspaper. Ahmadinejad received his PhD in traffic and transportation engineering.
During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, Ahmadinejad joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Before he was elected mayor of Teheran in early 2004, Ahmadinejad served as the governor of Maku and Khoy, and as the governor of the Ardabil province.
Before the presidential elections, Ahmadinejad was little known in politics. He won an unexpected victory in the first round, gaining 19.5% of the votes and placing second after Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjami, the chairman of the Expediency Council (a body of state authority in Iran) who enjoyed the support of 21% of the electors.
According to Ahmadinejad, Iran's foreign policy will focus on the country's national interests and closer cooperation with neighboring and regional countries that are not hostile towards Iran.
Ahmadinejad also intends to follow the foreign policy determined by the country's supreme spiritual leader.