US refuses to congratulate Iran’s president on victory
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed late on Wednesday Washington’s refusal to congratulate him on his election victory amid widespread protests by his rivals.
"They said they would recognize the election, but will not congratulate. This means they only want democracy at the service of their interests and don’t respect people’s vote and rights," Ahmadinejad said in a speech after he was formally sworn in as the president for a second four-year term.
"You should know that nobody in Iran awaits your congratulations. Iranians will neither value your scowling and bullying nor smiles and greetings."
Elected but illegitimate
The White House on Tuesday acknowledged Ahmadinejad as the "elected" president of Iran, but said it had no plans to congratulate the firebrand leader on his victory.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs stopped short of declaring him the "legitimate" president following the political turmoil unleashed by his disputed reelection in June.
"He’s the elected leader," Gibbs said.
Asked whether the United States would make any gesture of
congratulations after Ahmadinejad took the oath of office, he said: "I don’t
have any reason to believe that we will send any letters."
The vote, which leading moderates say was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad’s re-election, sparked Iran’s worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The authorities say the vote was "the healthiest" election since the revolution.
Iran’s pro-reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and fellow defeated moderate candidate Mehdi Karoubi rejected the new government as illegitimate, defying Iran’s most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who backed the election result and endorsed Ahmadinejad.
At a ceremony on Monday, Khamenei described Ahmadinejad as "courageous, hardworking and wise."
Leading moderates, including former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, were absent from the ceremony and hundreds of Mousavi supporters gathered at several Tehran squares but were dispersed by riot police.
Tehran’s diplomatic relations with the rest of the world are determined by the country’s paramount authority Khamenei.
Iran accuses the West, particularly the United States and Britain, of having fomented election unrest in the country to try and topple the clerical establishment. Western countries deny the charge.
No change in foreign policy means no change in the standoff between Iran and the West over the country’s nuclear program, which the United States and its European allies suspect is a front to build weapons, something Iran denies.