President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

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Fact Sheet

President of Iran

Incumbent Assumed Office : 3rd August 2005

Vice President : Parviz Davoodi

Leader : Ali Khamenei

Preceded by : Mohammad Khatami

Mayor Of Tehran

In Office : 20th June 2003 – 3rd August 2005

Preceded by Mohamad Hasan Malekmadani

Suceeded by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf

Born on 28^th October 1956 (1956-10-28) in Aradan, Iran

Political party : Islamic Society of Engineers part of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran coalition.

Profession : Civil Engineer

Religion : Usuli Twelver Shi’a Islam

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He became president on August 6, 2005, after winning the 2005 presidential election. Ahmadinejad became the first president of the Islamic Republic in twenty-four years who was not a religious cleric. Despite his title, he is not the most powerful official in Iran; that role belongs to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei according to Article 113 of Constitution of Iran. Prior to becoming president, Ahmadinejad was mayor of Tehran and governor general of Iran’s Ardabil Province.

Ahmadinejad has been a critic of the United States and Israel, and backs strengthening Iran’s relations with Russia, Venezuela, Syria, and the Persian Gulf states.

On Iran’s nuclear program, Ahmadinejad has said it is for peaceful purposes. For that stated reason and others, Iran has refused to end nuclear enrichment despite United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for it to do so. Ahmadinejad argues that the sanctions imposed by the West over Iran’s nuclear enrichment are illegal and that Iran will continue to abide by International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring of its nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad has also called for the dissolution of the state of Israel, and calls for free elections in the region. He believes that the Palestinians need a stronger voice in the region’s future.

One of Ahmadinejad’s most controversial statements was one in which, according to the initial Islamic Republic News Agency translation, he called for the state of Israel, referring to its government, to be “wiped off the map,” though the translation and interpretation of the comment is disputed. He has also been condemned for describing the Holocaust as a myth, which has led to accusations of anti-semitism; the interpretation of this quote is also disputed. In response to these criticisms, Ahmadinejad said “No, I am not against Jews, I respect them very much.”, and “I’m not saying that [the Holocaust] didn’t happen at all. This is not the judgment that I’m passing here”.

During his presidency, Ahmadinejad launched a gas rationing plan to reduce the country’s fuel consumption. He also instituted cuts in the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge.

Background

Ahmadinejad, real named Mahmoud Saborjihan was the son of a blacksmith, born near Garmsar in the village of Aradan on 28 October 1956. The name, which derives from thread painter, a once common and humble occupation, was changed into Ahmadinejad, meaning the race of Mohammed or the virtuous race. According to his relatives, it was for “a mixture of religious and economic reasons.” During the presidential campaign in 2009, political opponents have speculated that the name was changed in order to cover Jewish roots. In the 1950s, Ahmadinejad and his family moved from Aradan to Tehran in search of more economic prosperity; It was during this time period that the Saborjhian family changed its name to Ahmadinejad.

In 1976, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took Iran’s national university entrance exams (concours). He has claimed that he ranked 132nd out of 400,000 participants that year, and soon enrolled in the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) as an undergraduate student of civil engineering. What he did with the next ten years of his life is up for debate.

After the Islamic Revolution, he became a member of the Office for Strengthening Unity, an organization developed to prevent students from sympathizing or allying with the budding Mojahedin-e Khalq. According to a July 1st, 2005 article of the New York Times, 6 former hostages of the 1979 US Embassy Crisis in Iran remember Ahmadinejad playing a major role in their captivity. During this crisis 52 American hostages were held for 444 days. William J. Daugherty, a former intelligence officer, colonel Charles Scott, commander Donald Sharer, lieutenant colonel David Roeder, and marine guard Kevin Hermening are five of the hostages who distinctly remember Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being involved directly and in a supervisory role in interrogations. For example, Mr. Roeder recalls, “He was one of the interrogators in the room . . . when they threatened me with my son’s kidnapping.” Mr Roeder also recalled “Mr. Ahmadinejad working in a supervisory role in one third or more of the 44 interrogations he underwent.” A follow up article on July 29th, 2005 from the New York Times indicated an investigation into the matter by the US State Department was inconclusive. However at the time of the July 29th article none of the aforementioned six hostages had been interviewed. The White House did concede “Mr. Ahmadinejad was leader of the student movement that organized the attack on the embassy and the taking of American hostages.” Admadinejad and Iranian officials deny he had any involvement with the hostage taking.

It has been widely reported that after Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, Ahmadinejad joined the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution and served in their intelligence and security apparatus, but his advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi says “He has never been a member or an official member of the Revolutionary Guards”, having been a Basiji-like volunteer instead. He was accepted to a Master of Science program at the same school in 1986, and eventually received his doctorate in 1997 in civil engineering and traffic transportation planning. During his doctoral studies at Tehran, he was the governor general of Ardabil Province (1993-1997). Ahmadinejad was a lecturer and member of the faculty at the university since 1989.

Ahmadinejad is married and has two sons and a daughter. One of his sons formerly studied at the Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic).

Early political career

Ahmadinejad began his political career as governor to both Maku and Khoy in West Azarbaijan Province during the 1980s. He eventually became an advisor to the governor general of Kurdistan Province for two years and was appointed as the governor general of Ardabil Province in 1993. In 1997, Mohammad Khatami removed Ahmadinejad from his position in Ardabil, and Ahmadinejad returned to teaching. In 2003, however, Ahmadinejad returned to the political scene after the City Council of Tehran appointed him to the position of mayor, after a 12 percent turnout led to the election of Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran’s conservative candidates in Tehran.

During his mayorship, he reversed many of the changes put into effect by previous moderate and reformist mayors, putting religious emphasis on the activities of the cultural centers founded by previous mayors, going on the record with the separation of elevators for men and women in the municipality offices, and suggesting that the bodies of those killed in the Iran–Iraq War be buried in major city squares of Tehran. Such actions were coupled with an emphasis on charity, such as distributing free soup to the poor.

After two years as mayor, Ahmadinejad was shortlisted in a list of 65 finalists for World Mayor in 2005 and was among 3 strong candidates for the top-10 list but became non-eligible because of his resignation.^[39] Out of the 550 nominated mayors, nine were from Asia.

He was not widely known when he entered the presidential election campaign, although he had already made his mark for rolling back earlier reforms. After his election to the presidency, Ahmadinejad resigned from his post as the mayor of Tehran. His resignation was accepted on 28 June 2005.

He is a member of the Central Council of the Islamic Society of Engineers, but his key support is inside the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (Abadgaran).

Presidency

Presidential campaign

Ahmadinejad generally sent mixed signals about his plans for his presidency, which some US-based analysts considered to have been designed to attract both religious conservatives and the lower economic classes. His campaign motto was, “It’s doable and we can do it.”

In his presidential campaign, Ahmadinejad took a populist approach, with emphasis on his own modest life, and compared himself with Mohammad Ali Rajai, the second president of Iran. Ahmadinejad said he had plans to create an “exemplary government for the people of the world” in Iran. He is a self-described “principlist”; that is, acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary principles. One of his goals has been “putting the petroleum income on people’s tables”, referring to Iran’s oil profits being distributed among the poor.

Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. In an interview with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting a few days before the elections, Ahmadinejad accused the United Nations of being “one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam.” He has openly opposed the veto power given to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. In the same interview, he stated, “It is not just for a few states to sit and veto global approvals. Should such a privilege continue to exist, the Muslim world with a population of nearly 1.5 billion should be extended the same privilege.” He has defended Iran’s nuclear program and has accused “a few arrogant powers” of attempting to limit Iran’s industrial and technological development in this and other fields.

During his campaign for the second round, he said, “We didn’t participate in the revolution for turn-by-turn government.This revolution tries to reach a world-wide government.” Also he has mentioned that he has an extended program on fighting terrorism in order to improve foreign relations and has called for greater ties with Iran’s neighbours and ending visa requirements between states in the region, saying that “people should visit anywhere they wish freely. People should have freedom in their pilgrimages and tours.”

As confirmed by Ahmadinejad, his ideological and spiritual mentor is Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a senior cleric from Qom. Mesbah is the founder of Haghani School of thought in Iran. He and his team strongly supported Ahmadinejad’s campaign during presidential election in 2005.

Election and Term

Ahmadinejad became the sixth president of Iran on 6 August 2005, after winning 62 percent of the vote in the run-off poll, nearly twice that of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani considering the fact that the population of voters had risen threefold during Mr Rafsanjani’s period in office. He received the presidential authorization from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on 3 August 2005. During the authorization ceremony he kissed Khamenei’s hand in demonstration of his loyalty to him. Ahmadinejad’s current term will end in August 2009, but he will be eligible to run for one more term in office in the 2009 presidential elections.

Ahmadinejad was required to introduce his suggested ministers to Majlis for a vote of approval in 15 days, after which Majlis would have one week to decide about the ministers. Masoud Zaribafan, Ahmadinejad’s campaign manager, mentioned that Ahmadinejad would probably introduce his cabinet on the same day of his vow, but that did not happen. The list was finally sent to the Majlis on 14 August 2005.

The parliament had held a private meeting on 5 August, when Ahmadinejad presented a shortlist of three or four candidates for each ministry, to know the opinion of Majlis about his candidates. The final list was officially sent to the Majlis on 14 August. After a few days of heavy discussions in Majlis, which started on 21 August 2005, Ahmadinejad’s cabinet was voted for on 24 August.

The new board of ministers held its first meeting on 25 August in Mashhad, promising to keep frequent meetings to cities other than Tehran.

2006 Councils and Assembly of Experts election

Main articles: Iranian councils election, 2006 and Iranian Assembly of Experts election, 2006

Ahmadinejad’s team lost the 2006 city council elections, and his spiritual mentor, Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, was ranked sixth on the country’s Assembly of Experts. In the first nationwide election since Ahmadinejad took office, allies of the Iranian President failed to dominate election returns for the Assembly of Experts and local councils. Turnout of about 60 percent was reported, and the results suggested a voter shift toward more moderate policies. An editorial in the Kargozaran, an independent daily newspaper, remarked “The results show that voters have learned from the past and concluded that we need to support.. moderate figures.” An Iranian political analyst said that “this is a blow for Ahmadinejad and Mesbah Yazdi’s list.”

2009 presidential election

Ahmadinejad is thought to be a leading contender for Iran’s June 12, 2009 presidential election. On August 23, 2008, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced that he “sees Ahmadinejad as president in the next five years,” a comment interpreted as indicating support for Ahmadinejad’s reelection.