Ahmadinejad to take oath in August

TEHRAN (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will take the oath of office before parliament in early August following his hotly-disputed re-election, the ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The hardline Ahmadinejad will be sworn in as the 10th president of the Islamic republic between August 2 and 6 after being confirmed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and will then unveil his new cabinet, it said.

Ahmadinejad's victory in the June 12 presidential election unleashed a wave of protests unprecedented since the 1979 Islamic revolution, with his defeated rivals complaining that the vote was rigged.

However, his landslide win was ratified by the top electoral body the Guardians Council and backed by Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state in Iran.

During his first four-year term, Ahmadinejad put Iran on a collision course with the West over the country's nuclear drive and his frequent diatribes against Israel.