Tehran, August 06: The man who is now formally Iran’s President for the next four years cut an isolated figure as he took his oath of office yesterday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term at a ceremony boycotted by scores of parliamentarians, leading clerics and other important figures who would normally have been expected to attend.
Out on the streets demonstrators, many in black T-shirts to symbolise mourning, or wearing green, the colour of the campaign run by defeated opposition challenger Mirhossein Mousavi, marked what ought to have been a celebratory occasion by chanting “Death to the Dictator”. Security forces had been deployed in massive numbers around the Iranian parliament where the swearing-in was taking place, as well as at the entrances to a number of key underground train stations and overpowered protesters with batons, tear gas and pepper spray.
Reflecting the extraordinary controversy surrounding the 12 June election and the worst turmoil since the Islamic revolution in 1979, the authorities decided not to broadcast the event live on state television in contrast to past inauguration ceremonies.
–Agencies