In this picture released by the official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office, President-elect Hasan Rouhani, third right, speaks, in an endorsement ceremony led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013. Iran's supreme leader has formally endorsed Hasan Rouhani as president opening the way for the moderate cleric to take over from outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, right, head of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, second right, judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani, left, secretary of Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati, second left, and outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, third left, attend the ceremony. A portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini hangs in background. / AP Photo/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader
TEHRAN, Iran Hasan Rouhani has taken his oath of office, the final step in his inauguration as Iran's new president.
Rouhani, who replaces Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was sworn in during an open session of parliament on Sunday. State TV broadcast the ceremony live.
Iran's media and officials have treated Rouhani as president since Saturday, when he was endorsed by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Leaders and other representatives from more than 50 countries, mostly from the region, attended the ceremony.
It was the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that foreign dignitaries attended the swearing-in ceremony of an Iranian president, underscoring Rouhani's stated commitment to improving the country's foreign ties.
[h=3]Iran elects new president[/h]
Rouhani won a landslide victory in June 14 presidential elections.
While Rouhani has pledged a new era of openness and better relations with the West, many doubts remain.
In a statement, the White House said it hoped Rouhani would make good on pledges to resolve issues around Iran' nuclear program.
"On the occasion of Dr. Hojjatoleslam Hassan Rouhani's inauguration today as the Islamic Republic of Iran's seventh president, we again congratulate the Iranian people for making their voices heard during Iran's election," the statement reads. "We note that President Rouhani recognized his election represented a call by the Iranian people for change, and we hope the new Iranian government will heed the will of the voters by making choices that will lead to a better life for the Iranian people."
