The four-year presidential term of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad started on Wednesday after his appointment was confirmed by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. 
Senior Iranian authorities, top army officers and a number of Tehran-based foreign diplomatic corps attended the ceremony.
In his speech during the event, Ahmadinejad emphasized justice, peace, and defending the rights of citizens as his priorities as the 6th president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Ahmadinejad said the new government will stress on four principles including promotion of justice, attention to the needs of the people, serving all the masses, and material and moral progress of the country.
By following the pure Islamic culture and paying due attention to the people's needs, the new government will put promotion of justice in all areas, fairness in distribution of opportunities and facilities, eradication of poverty and struggle against administrative discrimination and corruption on top of its agenda, he said, according to IRNA.
"As a servant of the people, I am duty bound to safeguard the independence and national interest of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic culture and aspirations and also to defend citizenship rights of all Iranians inside and outside the country," Ahmadinejad said.
The new government will start its activities with the objective of serving the people and by making use of committed, brave, popular and skillful ministers, he noted.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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