Ahmadinejad given new political job

Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday was named a member of the council of the protection of the regime’s interests, following a special decree of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad’s eight-year reign as a leader of the Islamic Republic came to its official end Sunday with the swearing-in of his successor, Hasan Rouhani. The council to which he was appointed is in charge of advising the supreme leader and mediating between parliament and the Guardian Council in charge of protecting the country’s constitution.

During Ahmadinejad’s two terms in office, he pushed his country’s nuclear program forward, used vicious rhetoric against Israel, and denied the Holocaust. Iran is under United Nations sanctions as well as Western oil and banking sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment for what the West believes is a rogue nuclear weapons program.

Rouhani has said the sanctions are hurting Iran, and called for dialogue between the sides. “If you seek a suitable answer, speak to Iran through the language of respect, not through the language of sanctions,” he said in a speech at his parliamentary inauguration broadcast live by Iranian state television Sunday. He later added that any negotiations would require “bilateral trust building, mutual respect and the lessening of hostilities.”