NEW: U.S. and Israel react to the swearing-in of Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani The White House congratulated Rouhani, and in a statement called his inauguration "an opportunity" for Iran to "resolve the international community's deep concerns over Iran's nuclear program." Should Iran decide to engage on the nuclear issue, the statement read "it will find a willing partner in the United States." Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at his weekly cabinet meeting, said the president of Iran may have changed, "but the goal of the regime has not been replaced." "Iran's intention is to develop a nuclear capacity and nuclear weapons in order to destroy the State of Israel," he added. Iran insists its nuclear program is purely for civilian nuclear energy. Embracing a hard-liner label When Ahmadinejad won the presidency of Iran in June 2005, he was a little-known mayor of Tehran. The son of a blacksmith assumed office billed as a hard-liner -- a label he embraced with rhetorical gusto. Two months into his term, in October, Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped" off the map, repeating a remark from a former ayatollah. Years later, he told CNN, "When we say 'to be wiped,' we say for occupation to be wiped off from this world." Ahmadinejad speaks to CNN's Piers Morgan Also in 2005, he declared the Holocaust a "myth," prompting condemnation by the U.N. Security Council. Then, in April 2006, to a crowd of dignitaries, Ahmadinejad announced that "Iran has joined countries with nuclear technology" -- sparking the conflict that continues to this day. Economy sours Ahmadinejad created a furor when he flew to New York to address the U.N. General Assembly on its opening day in September 2006. He took to the podium, defending his own nation's nuclear ambitions and decrying the nuclear records of other nations. The performance and the headlines that followed set a pattern that would repeat several times over the next seven years. Back home, Ahmadinejad's time in office was marked by crackdowns and a economic malaise. In 2009, he stood for re-election. Officially, he came out on top, but the result was disputed. Protesters filled the streets, and the Basij, a feared paramilitary group, cracked down. With thousands jailed and scores injured, Ahmadinejad pressed forward. But political protests weren't his only concerns. From Iranian rooftops, a view of protest and violence Fast Facts: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Analyst: Ahmadinejad seeks to remain 'political force' Later, as the price of bread and other staples rose, people again people took to the streets. Ahmadinejad responded with riot police and finger pointing, putting the blame for the economic woes on international sanctions. While he was prevented from seeking a third term, he's unlikely to willingly give up being a "political force" in the country, says Geneive Abdo, an analyst with the Stimson Center and the Brookings Institution. While "the odds seem stacked against" him in that effort, Abdo wrote in a column for the CNN GPS blog, "no one seems likely to convince the president to go quietly into the political wilderness." CNN's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, Shirzad Bozorgmehr, Michael Martinez, Ben Brumfield and Josh Levs contributed to this report.