TEHRAN, June 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iranian president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged Sunday, June 26, to form a government of "moderation" and said Tehran would continue talks over its nuclear program and reach out to the international community.
"Moderation will be the main policy of the government of 70 million people," Ahmadinejad told his first news conference since winning the Friday's presidential elections, Reuters reported.
"No extremism will be acceptable in popular government," said the former mayor of Tehran.
"This government will be a government of friendship and compassion. This government will be a government of justice and fairness, in the service of the people... whatever views they have," Ahmadinejad said.
In the most stunning political upset in Iranian history, Ahmadinejad trounced former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in Friday's run-off with 61.69 percent of the vote.
The election has been seen as the most critical since the 1979 Islamic revolution and Ahmadinejad will become the first non-cleric president of the Islamic republic.
Nuclear Right
The 49-year-old president-elect said that his country had the right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
"Today we can say that nuclear technology is our right, to be used for peaceful purposes," he said.
Ahmadinejad said Iran would continue to develop nuclear technology because it needed atomic technology to generate electricity.
"We need this technology for energy and medical purposes. We shall carry on with it."
Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, said it was in the country's interest to continue talks with the European Union over its nuclear program.
"Based on the national interests of the Islamic republic of Iran, we will continue negotiations. But trust must be mutual," he said.
Britain, France and Germany have said they will list incentives that could be part of a deal aimed at ending Iran's uranium enrichment program in late July or early August.
European leaders urged Ahmadinejad, who takes power in August, to move quickly and prove that Iran's nuclear program was peaceful.
The Iranian foreign ministry said the election would strengthen its position in negotiations.
No Real Need
The Iranian president-elect maintained that his country does not need to restore relations with the United States, which were cut off a quarter of a century ago.
"Iran is on a path of progress and elevation, and does not really need the United States on this path," he said.
But he added: "We can work with any country in the world that does not show animosity to Iran."
Ahmadinejad said his government's foreign policy "is justice, peace and co-existence, and the expansion of mutual, just relations".
Reacting to the elections results, Washington was quick to pour scorn on Ahmadineijad's choice.
"We have seen nothing that dissuades us from our view that Iran is out of step with the rest of the region and the currents of freedom and liberty," State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said.
Washington accuses Iran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb while it turns blind eye to other nuclear activities in the area, namely Israel.
Tehran staunchly denies the allegations and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohammad El-Baradie reiterated that there was no evidence Iran was developing nuclear weapons.
Increasing Investment
The president-elect sought to reassure investors in Iran's fledgling stock market.
"It will grow bigger with more clarification so that people put their assets with trust into the bourse market."
Ahmadinejad vowed to increase both foreign and domestic investment in the Islamic republic by streamlining bureaucratic procedures.
"We will expand domestic and foreign investment in Iran. There are many bureaucratic barriers which have reduced investment security in Iran," he said.
"I will ask foreign and domestic investors to come, especially Iranians abroad."
A top aide said Ahmadinejad planned to offer Iranians free shares in state-owned enterprises and slash interest rates for corporate investment to single digits.