Ahmadinejad takes office

Iran's outgoing president Mohammad Khatami (2nd R) reads out a warrant from the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a ceremony in Iranian capital city of Tehran on August 3, 2005. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took over the post as president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Wednesday morning as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei granted warrant to him. Ahmadinejad defeated former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with a landslide victory in the ninth presidential election in June.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (3rd R) delivers a speech at a ceremony in Iranian capital city of Tehran on August 3, 2005. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took over the post as president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Wednesday morning as the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei granted warrant to him. Ahmadinejad defeated former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with a landslide victory in the ninth presidential election in June.