TIMES ONLINE: Iran’s supreme leader has formally endorsed President Ahmadinejad for a second term amid a boycott by leading opposition figures.
State television broadcast images of the ceremony today with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving the President his seal of approval.
The country’s opposition leaders and moderates boycotted the gathering in protest over the election they claim was fraudulent.
State media reported that the former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami as well as the defeated pro-reform candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi did not attend.
On Wednesday the President will take the oath of office before Iran’s parliament. Seven weeks after the election, however, the regime is still battling to crush the resistance of millions of Iranians who believe that the poll was rigged.
A new wave of protests linked is gathering over the “show trial” of more than 100 opposition figures detained in the crackdown that followed the ballot.
On Saturday, in an apparent effort to deter further protests, Iran put scores of opponents on trial in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, accusing them of conspiring with foreign powers to stage a revolution. Yesterday it added ten more defendants. >>> Martin Fletcher | Monday, August 03, 2009
