Leader of Islamic Ummah Sayed Khamanei to endorse Iran’s President-elect Hassan Rohani

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will endorse Iran’s President-elect Hassan Rohani on Saturday for a four-year term in office.

The ceremony is scheduled to be held in the capital, Tehran, at 17:00 local time (12:30 GMT) on Saturday in the presence of senior Iranian officials, Mehr news agency reported.

Rohani succeeds Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose two legally allowed consecutive terms end on Saturday.

The Iranian president-elect won over half of the votes in Iran’s June 14 election, which was marked by a 72.7 percent turnout, to secure an outright victory.

He will take the oath of office in Iran’s Majlis on Sunday.

Eleven presidents, two prime ministers and seven parliament speakers are to participate in Rohani’s inauguration.

The presidents of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Armenia, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Togo as well as the prime ministers of Syria and Swaziland will attend the event.

The parliament speakers of Russia, Venezuela, Algeria, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the foreign ministers of South Africa, India, Brazil, Turkey, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, Burundi and Palestine are to attend Rohani’s swearing-in as well.

The vice-presidents of Nicaragua, Tanzania, Cuba and Ghana, and former European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, are also among the attendees.