President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric who swept to office promising social and economic change, was confirmed yesterday as Iran's new head of state but voiced little softening of hardline policies toward the West.
President Khatami, a 54-yearold former culture minister who scored an upset win in the May 23rd election, was officially approved by Iran's paramount leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as successor to Mr Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Standing under a picture of the late founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, President Khatami received a decree to begin his four-year term before hundreds of senior Iranian leaders, along with foreign diplomats, at a mosque in central Tehran.
President Khatami, whose crushing 69 per cent victory stunned the ruling conservative clergy, struck a conciliatory tone in his speech, saying the success of his government depended on "unity and co-operation from all sectors of the society".
"Close co-operation between the legislative, judiciary and the executive within the framework of the law and under the supervision of the supreme guide are the conditions for the success of this government," he said. Speaking at the ceremony, Ayatollah Khamenei appeared to rule out the possibility of an opening to the West under the new president. "Many countries and especially the media are engaging in false speculation and expressing their desires," said Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final word in Iran on religious and political issues, particularly foreign policy.
"Our republic is not a capitalist regime," he said, adding that "the road of rebuilding is still long and difficult".
President Khatami concurred with the paramount leader. "On the international front we want peace and security for everyone," he said. "This is why we oppose domination by the great powers and believe that they are the greatest obstacle to peace and the source of tensions."
In another sign of Iran's troubled relations with the West, no ambassadors from EU countries attended the ceremony because of a diplomatic row over a Berlin court ruling in April accusing the Iranian leadership of backing political assassinations.
President Khatami is to take the oath of office at parliament today as the Islamic republic's fifth president since the 1979 revolution toppled the US-backed shah.
Iran's paramount leader called on the president to "make every effort to eliminate poverty and injustice" in Iran.
Ireland will not be represented at today's swearing in. Invitations to the ceremony were issued to ambassadors currently in situ in Tehran, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said, but Ireland does not have an ambassador in Iran at the moment. However, the spokesman added, a message of congratulations was sent by the office of the President, Mrs Robinson.