Ahmadinejad sworn in for second Presidency

IRAN: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in Wednesday for a second term amid prolonged controversy over his landslide victory in the presidential election, the state TV reported.

Ahmadinejad, accompanied by judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, formally took oath of office in a ceremony in Iranian parliament Wednesday morning.

"I swear to protect the official faith, the system of the Islamic Revolution and the constitution ... and devote myself to serving the people," Ahmadinejad said during his swearing-in ceremony, broadcast live on state TV.

He said Iran will resist the world's "oppressive powers" and dismissed some Western leaders' refusal to send congratulatory messages to him.

"No one is waiting for the congratulatory messages from the Western leaders," Ahmadinejad said.

On Tuesday, spokesmen for U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said respectively their leaders would not congratulate the Iranian president.

Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots in the June 12 presidential election, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent, the Iranian Interior Ministry said on June 13. Tehran, Wednesday, Xinhua