Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as Iran's president on Wednesday, nearly eight weeks after a disputed election that unleashed the worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution and divided the political and clerical elite.
The 53-year-old hardliner took his oath of office before parliament, with riot police out in force in nearby streets to foil any protests by opponents who say the election was rigged.
"I, as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, swear before the holy Quran and the Iranian nation and God to be the guardian of the official religion, the Islamic Republic and the constitution," Ahmadinejad declared at the ceremony.
Opposition websites said supporters of Ahmadinejad’s main political rival, Mir Hussein Mousavi, were planning protests.
A witness reported seeing hundreds of Mousavi supporters in the vicinity of parliament, but no clashes with the riot police and Basij militia there. Police arrested at least 10 protesters, the witness said, adding that mobile phones had been cut off.
"Elected leader"
Ahmadinejad said Iran wanted peaceful coexistence with the world, but would resist any "bullying" power.
"Internationally, we seek peace and security. But because we want this for all of humanity, we oppose injustice, aggression and the high-handedness of some countries," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of France, Britain, Italy and Germany have all decided not to congratulate Ahmadinejad on his re-election. But the White House acknowledged that Ahmadinejad was Iran’s "elected leader."
"He’s the elected leader," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Tuesday said, adding that Washington had no plans to congratulate the firebrand leader on his inauguration.
Ahmadinejad reacted tartly to the Western cold shoulder.
"We heard that some of the Western leaders had decided to recognize but not congratulate the new government," he said. "Well, no one in Iran is waiting for your messages."
He now has two weeks to present a cabinet to parliament for approval, but may get a rough ride from the conservatives who dominate the assembly, as well as from his moderate foes.
"Illegitimate" government
Mousavi and reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi say the next government will be illegitimate — defying Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has formally endorsed Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad has also come under fire from some hardliners angered by his initial choice of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaie as his first vice-president. They were further upset when he took a week to obey Khamenei’s order to dismiss Mashaie.
Nevertheless, Khamenei described Ahmadinejad as "courageous, hardworking and wise" at a ceremony on Monday that was boycotted by leading moderates, including former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who support Mousavi.
Iran’s judiciary chief on Tuesday urged the country’s bitterly divided political groups to unite.
"I hope all officials understand the situation and maintain unity," said judiciary chief and leading cleric Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi.
"I hope they do what is best for the revolution, the regime, and Islam and disappoint the enemies," he was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
At least 20 people have been killed since the June 12 election and hundreds have been arrested.
The authorities opened a mass trial on Saturday for 110 reformists on charges of inciting unrest. The next session of what Khatami and Mousavi have denounced as a "show trial" will take place on Thursday.
Ties with the west
Iran accuses the West, particularly the United States and Britain, of having fomented trouble after the election, which officials describe as the healthiest in the Islamic Republic’s history, in an attempt to topple clerical rule.
"Enemies tried to question the election’s validity," Ahmadinejad said after taking the oath.
The West suspects Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb. Tehran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
Ahmadinejad in his second term is expected to keep up Iran’s defiance of the international community over its controversial nuclear program, which he aggressively pursued in his first stint despite U.N. sanctions.
Opponents accuse Ahmadinejad, who enjoyed windfall oil revenues in his first term, of mismanaging the economy, stoking inflation, wasting resources and manipulating statistics to cover his failures.
Iran’s stance towards close U.S. ally Israel is also likely to harden further during the second term of Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly said the Jewish state is doomed to disappear.