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Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waits for Oman's Foreign Minister Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah before an official meeting in Tehran July 11, 2009. -
The results, which leading reformists and moderate defeated candidates Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi said were rigged to ensure victory for the hardline Ahmadinejad, led to violent protests and deep schisms within Iran's clerical and political elite.
Leading opposition figures and two former presidents, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, who backed Mousavi in the vote, were not at the ceremony although they had attended such events in the past, Iranian media reported.
Iranian officials deny any fraud in the election, in which Ahmadinejad was declared to have won 63 percent of 40 million votes cast, against 34 percent for Mousavi.
Part of Iran's influential Shi'ite clerical establishment has also signaled misgivings over the aftermath of the poll, which has touched off the country's worst internal upheaval since the 1979 revolution.
The power struggle can only hamper the leadership's ability to tackle the Islamic Republic's economic problems, as well as the struggle over its nuclear program, which Iran says is only peaceful, but which the West suspects is aimed at bomb-making.
In an apparent effort to deter street protests, Iran on Saturday put 100 protesters, including several senior moderate figures, on trial. They face a range of charges, including acting against national security, which is punishable by death.
Rights groups say hundreds of people, including senior pro-reform politicians, journalists and lawyers, have been detained since the election.Iran Ayatollah urges Ahmadinejad to sack 'friend of Israel' VP
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who led Friday prayers in Tehran, once again called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to sack his acting president, Esfandir Rahim-Mashaie.
"I hope that the president will pay attention to critics and especially the demand by the supreme leader ¬Ayatollah Ali Khamenei¬ and revise the appointment of his first vice-president," the ayatollah said.
Rahim-Mashaie's appointment led to widespread criticism even within pro-Ahmadinejad circles, owing to an earlier remark by the vice-president that Iran's political differences with Israel had nothing to do with Israelis and Jews.
His remark that Iran was also a friend of the Israeli people sparked particularly harsh protests and calls for his resignation. Rahim-Mashaie at that time served as vice-president and head of the tourism organization.
Parliament also demanded the vice-president be sacked, or they were to take the issue to Supreme Leader Khamenei who, according to constitution, has the final say on all state affairs.
Khamenei has reportedly informed the president already about his wish that Rahim-Mashaie should be replaced.
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- In July 2009 after the disputed results were announced , Demonstrators in Tehran burn trash, apparently to mitigate the effects of tear gas used by Iranian security forces. Witnesses said the unrest was brought under control within three hours. -
Violent clashes erupted Thursday in downtown Tehran between thousands of defiant protesters chanting "Death to the dictator" and security forces wielding truncheons, as the political crisis over Iran's disputed presidential election stretched into its fourth week.
Contingents of uniformed and plainclothes security forces flooded the city's central squares and managed with batons and tear gas to eventually disperse the demonstrators, many of whom wore black and held up their fingers in V-for-victory salutes.
Demonstrators said they were determined to defy the authorities, led by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who have demanded an end to rallies and acts of civil disobedience. Tracts distributed online and as leaflets called on protesters to borrow the nonviolent tactics of the U.S. civil rights movement, avoid rifts within their ranks and do nothing that would hamper morale.
Protesters chanted in support of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who authorities say was defeated by incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential vote, and they urged security forces to join them.
Mousavi and Karoubi say the next government will be illegitimate.
Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi announced presidential bid on March 10(Left).Reformist Mehdi Karroubi (Right)
Both candidate above are favored among the moderate reformist supporters.However loss to incumbent hardliner Ahmadinejad .
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