Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, a fundamentalist conservative, became Iran's new president on Wednesday, amid mounting international pressure on Tehran over its threat to resume suspended nuclear fuel cycle activities.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s sixth president, won last month’s election as an unabashed ‘fundamentalist’, arguing for renewal of the social egalitarianism of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. His role model was Mohammad Ali Rajaei, the president assassinated in 1981 who was popular for his piety and simple life.