Ahmadinejad conducts final Cabinet session

MASHHAD, Iran, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The Iranian government said outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was feted during his last official meeting in the northeast city of Mashhad.

Iranian lawmakers commemorated Ahmadinejad with a plaque and a copy of the Koran to mark the last full week of his eight years in office. His last formal Cabinet session was Wednesday evening in northeast Khorasan Razavi province, Iran's state-funded broadcast Press TV reports.

Ahmadinejad was the mayor of Tehran before taking office as president in 2005. His re-election to a second term in 2009 was marked by protests and violence not seen in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

His tenure was marked by spats with Western countries over Iran's nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes. His administration cooperated, however, with international efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.

He was ineligible to run in June elections because of term limits. The semiofficial Fars News Agency reports he's expected to take on an academic role at the university level. He holds a doctorate in transportation engineering.

President-elect Hassan Rouhani is to be sworn into office Sunday. A former nuclear negotiator, he said he'd lead as a moderate and reach out to the international community.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has stuck to a conservative line of Western opposition. He has ultimate say over Iranian affairs.