iranian president

Bani-Sadr took office in February 1980 after winning election the previous month with more than 75% of votes.

Reports on Saturday evening indicated that IRGC head Hossein Salami had also met the Hezbollah deputy and said that they should prepare for the “collapse” of Israel.

Over 70 countries have sent dignitaries to Tehran for the ceremony, which was expected to have less religious tones than the one on Tuesday.

Raisi is the only president-elect of Iran to have had sanctions imposed against him by the US before taking office and will have to contend with his controversial reputation.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is now 82 years old, meaning that it is possible the ayatollah could pass away during the next president's term.

For nearly two decades now, two factors have been affecting political analyses in the West about Iranian politics; reformists and an imminent death of Khamenei.

INSS Iran expert: Way paved for Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi to be the next president.

The former president is remembered fondly by some Iranians for his populism and for offering loan programs. He was often portrayed as a modest 'Mr. Clean' but this is disputed by others.

The former Iranian president mixes criticism of American racism with anti-Israel comments. Ahmadinejad quoted the Tupac song "Changes" to amplify his statements.