Ahmadinejad to be sworn in for second term

IRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be sworn in for a second term on Wednesday, strongly backed by Iran's supreme leader but fiercely opposed by angry reformists who claim his re-election was rigged.

The ceremony to be held in parliament comes as Iran grapples with its worst turbulence since the 1979 Islamic revolution, with deadly street protests, a raft of political trials and an escalating feud between rival factions.

Ahmadinejad, 52, is himself under fire from his own hardline camp, which questions his loyalty to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The announcement of Ahmadinejad's landslide victory in the June 12 presidential vote was met with an outpouring of anger from opposition supporters, who claim their votes were stolen.

Tehran, Monday, AFP