First inauguration of Hassan Rouhani

The inauguration of Hassan Rouhani as the 7th president of Iran took place on two rounds, first on Saturday 3 August 2013 whereby he received his presidential precept from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and entered to the Sa'dabad Palace, official residence of the president in a private ceremony. The second was on the next day with sworn in for the office in the Parliament of Iran.[1] This marked the commencement of the four-year term of Hassan Rouhani as president and his vice president. The event was awaited with some expectation, since for the first time foreign guests participated in the ceremony. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice, Sadeq Larijani.

Presidential inauguration of Hassan Rouhani
Hassan Rouhani taking oath of office in the Parliament building, Chief Justice Sadeq Larijani in his left
Date3 August 2013 (de facto)
4 August 2013 (Official)
LocationImam Khomeini Hosseinieh, Pasteur Street, Tehran (de facto)
Parliament of Iran building, Baharestan, Tehran (Official)
ParticipantsHassan Rouhani
7th president of the Iran
—Assuming office
Sadeq Larijani
Chief Justice of Iran
— Administering oath
WebsiteParliament of Iran

Planning edit

The inauguration ceremony began at 16:00 IRDT and finished at 19:00. Foreign guests resided in two places. Heads of states and governments stayed at the Sa'dabad Palace, which is the official residence of the Iranian president. Other guests based in Parsian Esteghlal Hotel. Hassan Rouhani went to Imam Khomeini Hosseinieh, the official residence of Supreme Leader of Iran to receive his presidential precept from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After that, he began his career as President of Iran officially. On the next day, an official inauguration took place which he must perform the oath of office beside Sadeq Larijani, head of Judiciary System of Iran. Before the sworn in ceremony begins, Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani welcomed the new government and guests with a 30-minute speech. Rouhani had a 45-minute mandate for his first speech as the president of Iran.

Invitations edit

The group organizing the inauguration invited international and national authorities for the swearing in ceremony. The ceremonial body of the Parliament sent invitations to all members of the current legislature and some famous Iranian political and cultural persons. All governors of the provinces, ambassadors and Friday prayer imams were invited for the event. Former presidents, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, were also invited.[2] After the ceremony, guests attended a dinner party hosted by Rouhani.

Foreign dignitaries edit

The following leaders attended the swearing in ceremony:[3]

Government leaders
  Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai
  Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan
  Bolivia Vice President Álvaro García Linera[citation needed]
  Cuba Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz
  Ghana Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur
  Guinea-Bissau President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo
  Iraq Vice President Khodair al-Khozaei
  Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev
  Kuwait Prime Minister Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah[4]
  Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev
  Lebanon President Michel Suleiman[5]
  India Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari
  Nicaragua Vice President Omar Halleslevens
  North Korea President of the Presidium Kim Yong-Nam[6]
  Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari[7]
  Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
  Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa
  Eswatini Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini
  Syria Prime Minister Wael Nader Al-Halqi[8]
  Tajikistan President Emomalii Rahmon
  Tanzania Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal
  Togo President Faure Gnassingbé
  Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
Government representatives
  Algeria Chairperson of the Senate Abdelkader Bensalah
  Azerbaijan Speaker Ogtay Asadov[9]
  Brazil Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota
  Brunei Foreign Minister Mohamed Bolkiah
  Burundi Foreign Minister Laurent Kavakure
  China Minister of Culture Cai Wu[citation needed]
  Democratic Republic of the Congo Speaker Aubin Minaku
  India Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid[10]
  Indonesia Speaker Sidarto Danusubroto
  Iraq Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechervan Idris Barzani
  Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister
Foreign Minister
Muhyiddin Yassin
Anifah Aman[11]
  Mauritania Foreign Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi
  Oman Minister of Heritage and Culture Haitham bin Tariq al Said
  Palestine Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki
  Russia Speaker Sergey Naryshkin
  Saudi Arabia Minister of State for Foreign Trade Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban
  South Africa Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane[12]
  Sri Lanka Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris
  Turkey Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
  Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov
  United Arab Emirates Speaker Mohammad Al Murr
  Uzbekistan Chairman of the Senate Ilgizar Sabirov
  Venezuela Speaker Diosdado Cabello
Heads of multilateral organizations
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu
  United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson
Former leaders
  European Union Former EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana
  Malaysia Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed
  United Kingdom Former Secretary of State Jack Straw

After the election of Rouhani as the seventh president of Iran, former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw, who has a close friendship with Hassan Rouhani, publicly announced his inclination for participating in Rouhani's presidential inauguration. Two weeks later, Parliament sent an official invitation to him. However, he declined this invitation due to personal and family reasons and also that he was not a British official. Abbas Araghchi, the spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced that Parliament sent invitations to all governments' officials except Israel, with which Iran has no formal relations.[13][14]

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had confirmed his participation in the ceremony but his chartered Saudi aircraft was prevented from flying into Saudi Arabian airspace on its way to Tehran.[15]

Broadcast edit

Rouhani's inauguration was broadcast nationally by all major television networks. IRIB broadcast the event live. BBC Persian, Voice of America, Press TV, Manoto, CNN, ABC News, NBC, Channel 4, RT, NRK, SRF, Euronews, TRT Türk and Al Jazeera also aired the event. Among 2,000 reporters were permitted to enter the Parliament house.[original research?]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Iranian President Rouhani takes oath of office before parliament". Reuters. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  2. ^ دو تیم از مجلس و دولت منتخب درباره مهمانان مراسم تحلیف تصمیم‌گیری می‌کنند ISNA
  3. ^ "High-Ranking World Officials to Partake in New President's Inauguration Ceremony". Fars News Agency. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Amir's envoy to leave for Iran for new pres. inauguration". Kuwait News Agency. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Suleiman to attend Iran's new president inauguration". Ya Libnan. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  6. ^ "N. Korea's No. 2 man to visit Iran for inauguration ceremony". Yonhap. 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  7. ^ Shah, Murtaza Ali (28 July 2013). "Zardari to attend Iran president's inauguration". The News International. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Syrian PM to attend Iran's presidential inauguration: envoy". Xinhua News Agency. 28 July 2013. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  9. ^ Rajabova, Sar (25 July 2013). "Azerbaijani speaker to attend Iranian president's inauguration". Azernews. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  10. ^ جزییات حضور سران خارجی در تحلیف روحانی Tabnak
  11. ^ حضور وزیر خارجه مالزی در تحلیف روحانی
  12. ^ "Statement by the Deputy Minister of DIRCO on international developments". Department of International Relations and Cooperation. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  13. ^ حضور ۱۰ رئیس‌جمهور در مراسم تحلیف قطعی شده است/ فهرست مهمانان خارجی پنج‌شنبه نهایی می‌شود Tasnim News
  14. ^ عراقچی:غیر از اسرائیل همه کشورهابرای مراسم تحلیف دعوتند ISNA
  15. ^ "Sudan's al-Bashir barred from Saudi airspace en route to Iran president's inauguration". The Washington Post. 4 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.