Ahmadinejad formally endorsed by Iranian leader
Protests as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad formally endorsed
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Monday, 03, Aug 2009 05:14
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been formally endorsed as the winner of Iran's presidential election by the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The country's leader backed the incumbent president on Monday, two days before he is due to be sworn in for a second term.
Mr Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the June 12th election despite widespread protests from the opposition supporters.
His rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has accused the authorities of vote rigging and has failed to recognise the result.
Since then, thousands of protestors have taken to the streets of Tehran to demonstrate against Mr Ahmadinejad's victory.
Reports suggest dozens of people were killed in the protests as riot police were deployed onto the streets to end the demonstrations.
Today's endorsement comes after hundreds of activists were put on trial during the weekend to face charges including conspiracy, rioting and vandalism.
Iran has continued to be widely criticised for the handling of the election and the alleged crackdown on those wishing to voice their objection to the result.
Protestors for the Going for Green movement have been using Twitter to express their anguish as Ahmadinejad was formally endorsed.
Numerous calls have been made by protestors from around the world to Go Green for Iran and show support for a re-election. There were concerns over the lack of media presence at the event, and worries the revolutionary court could order jail time for those criticising ongoing proceedings against post-election protestors.
Some users of Twitter, speaking from Iran, said they were annoyed today's ceremony was not being broadcast, with one user stating "protesters will overload electricity grid when Ahmadi conf is broadcast by turning on appliances simultaneously".
The social messaging site, which has been a key source of information under the media ban in Iran, saw numerous people writing "Ahmadinejad is not my president".
There are also reports of an unusual embrace between Mr Ahmadinejad and the ayatollah during the ceremony, with those who had witnessed the event saying Ayatollah Khamenei may have blocked the sign of respect from the president.