The White House congratulated Iran’s new president on his inauguration today:
On the occasion of Dr. Hojjatoleslam Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration today as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s seventh president, we again congratulate the Iranian people for making their voices heard during Iran’s election. We note that President Rouhani recognized his election represented a call by the Iranian people for change, and we hope the new Iranian government will heed the will of the voters by making choices that will lead to a better life for the Iranian people. The inauguration of President Rouhani presents an opportunity for Iran to act quickly to resolve the international community’s deep concerns over Iran’s nuclear program. Should this new government choose to engage substantively and seriously to meet its international obligations and find a peaceful solution to this issue, it will find a willing partner in the United States.
Iran’s Guardian Council screens and approves candidates for the ballot in Iran, disqualifying anyone they see as too reformist and a threat to the Islamic Revolution, as well as anyone they just don’t like. The will of the voters is nonexistent in this process.
Rouhani’s inauguration address, meanwhile, was the same rhetoric.
“Constructive interaction on equal footing and based on mutual respect and common interests will be the basis of our foreign relations with the other countries, and we will move to enhance our ties proportionate to the behavior and attitude of the other sides,” Rouhani said.
“I frankly say that if you want a proper response, speak to the Iranian nation not with the language of sanction, but with the language of respect,” he said in regard to western countries, according to Fars News Agency.
“The June election was held with full transparency, rivalry and tranquility and its results surprised many because Iran, which was imagined by ill-wishers to start experiencing domestic conflicts and a wide gap between the state and the nation as a result of sanctions and isolations, created an almost unique epic through hectic election and massive participation of the people from different walks of life,” Rouhani added.
Delegations came to the swearing-in from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Armenia, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Swaziland, Russia, Venezuela, Algeria, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uzbekistan, Malaysia, India, Nicaragua, Cuba, Kuwait, Ukraine, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Oman, according to Fars. A United Nations delegation also came.
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