Inauguration Ceremony of Hassan Rouhani's Second Presidential Term Held

The inauguration ceremony of Hassan Rouhani was held on Saturday afternoon, August 5, in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, marking the official start of his second presidential term. According to reports, by Friday evening, over 70 foreign delegations had arrived in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran. According to the IRNA news agency, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, also arrived at Tehran airport on Friday, August 5, and met with Hassan Rouhani on Saturday morning. The day before, Amnesty International had urged Ms. Mogherini to ask Iranian officials to release human rights activists during her visit to Tehran. Following this request, the spokesperson for the EU's foreign policy chief stated that Ms. Mogherini would address human rights issues in Iran during her visit. Nasim Papayani, a reporter for Iran at Amnesty International, called on the EU to adopt a stricter stance regarding the crackdowns in Iran, specifically urging Federica Mogherini to seek a meeting with imprisoned human rights activists during her trip to Tehran. During Hassan Rouhani's inauguration ceremony, Ali Larijani, the head of the legislative branch, and Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, delivered speeches. According to Article 121 of the Constitution, the presidential inauguration ceremony must take place in the Assembly, where the president takes the oath in a public session in the presence of representatives and members of the Guardian Council, alongside the head of the judiciary. Reports indicate that 'eight presidents, 19 speakers of parliament, nine vice presidents and prime ministers, seven deputy speakers, 11 foreign ministers, and 35 special envoys from various countries' attended the ceremony. Reports suggest that the British Deputy Foreign Minister, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, the President of the Spanish Senate, the papal envoy, the Speaker of the South Korean Parliament, the President of Iraq, the Prime Minister of Syria, the Vice President of the Cambodian Parliament, the Deputy Speaker of the Bosnian Parliament, and several other senior officials from other countries attended the ceremony in Tehran. Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, apologized for attending the ceremony but noted that Fuad Masum, the President of Iraq, would represent Iraq at the event. The Tasnim news agency also reported that 160 foreign journalists and 200 domestic journalists attended the ceremony on Saturday afternoon in the Iranian parliament. The event took place from 5 PM to 7:30 PM Tehran time, after which the heads of delegations attended a dinner hosted by the president. Meanwhile, Iranian and Palestinian media reported the visit of a high-level Hamas delegation to Iran after a long period of cold relations between the two sides. According to these reports, the Hamas delegation arrived in Tehran on Friday. The official reason for the Hamas delegation's presence in Iran was to participate in Hassan Rouhani's presidential inauguration ceremony. The Hamas delegation stated, 'To appreciate Iran's significant role in supporting the resilience of the Palestinian people and their rights and assisting the resistance,' they positively responded to Iran's official invitation. Hamas added in its statement that 'strengthening bilateral relations' and 'serving the nation and the just cause of Palestine' would be discussed in negotiations between the delegation members and Iranian officials. However, while Iran had invited Ismail Haniyeh, the new head of Hamas's political office, he was not among the delegation that arrived in Iran. Members of the Hamas delegation to Iran include Ezzat al-Rashq, Zahar Jabareen, and Osama Hamdan. In this context, it seems that the presence of the Hamas delegation in Tehran is a response to a recent request from the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards to Hamas to strengthen relations between the two sides. Qassem Soleimani recently emphasized Iran's continued support for this Palestinian movement against Israel in a congratulatory message to two new Hamas officials. Qassem Soleimani sent a congratulatory message to Ismail Haniyeh, the new head of Hamas's political office, and Yahya Sinwar, the new leader of Hamas in Gaza.