Acting ministerial offices


Minister of Petroleum Acting
In office 16 May 2011 – 2 June 2011
President	Himself
Preceded by	Masoud Mir-Kazemi
Succeeded by	Mohammad Aliabadi (acting)
Minister of Intelligence Acting
In office 25 July 2009 – 3 September 2009
President	Himself
Preceded by	Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i
Succeeded by	Heydar Moslehi

42nd Mayor of Tehran

In office
20 May 2003 – 28 June 2005

Preceded by

Mohammad-Hossein Moghimi (acting)

Succeeded by

Ali Saeedlou (acting)

1st Governor General of Ardabil

In office
28 November 1993 – 29 October 1997

President

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Preceded by

Province created

Succeeded by

Seyyed Hamid Tahayi

Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement

In office
30 August 2012 – 3 August 2013

Preceded by

Mohamed Morsi

Succeeded by

Hassan Rouhani

Personal details

Born

Mahmoud Sabbaghian

28 October 1956 (age 68)
Aradan, Imperial State of Iran

Political party

Society of Devotees (1999–2011)
Islamic Society of Engineers (1988–present; inactive since 2005)

Other political
affiliations

Alliance of Builders (2003–2005)
Office for Strengthening Unity (1979–1980)

Spouse

Azam al-Sadat Farahi

(m. 1980)

Children

Relatives

Davoud Ahmadinejad (brother)
Parvin Ahmadinejad (sister)

Residences

Square 72, Narmak, Tehran

Alma mater

Iran University of Science and Technology (BS, PhD)

Occupation

University professor

Profession

Engineer

Military service

Allegiance

Islamic Republic of Iran Army

Branch/service

Revolutionary Guards

Years of service

1986–1988

Rank

None

Unit

Hamzeh Headquarters

Commands

Combat engineering Unit, 6th Special Division

Battles/wars

Iran–Iraq War
- Operation Fath 1

Scientific career

Institutions

Iran University of Science and Technology

Theses

Study of comprehensive transportation plan in Kurdistan (1988)
Assessment of subway for passengers transportation (A case study of Tehran) (1997)

Doctoral advisor

Hamid Behbahani

Other academic advisors

Ali Mansour Khaki
Gholamreza Shirazian
Jalil Shahi

This article contains special characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born October 28, 1956) is an Iranian politician who was the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is known for his conservative political views and strong support for Iran's nuclear programme.

Before becoming president, Ahmadinejad was the mayor of Tehran, Iran's capital city, from 2003 to 2005. As an engineer and teacher who grew up in a poor family, his political ideas were shaped by the Iranian Revolution.

During his time as president, Ahmadinejad was a well-known but often criticized leader. In Iran, some people disagreed with his economic plans. Outside of Iran, he was known for his strong disagreements with countries like Israel and the United States. He was re-elected in 2009, but the results were disputed, leading to large protests.

After his presidency, he was not allowed to run again in 2017, 2021, and 2024. He is currently a member of a government group called the Expediency Discernment Council.

A Look at His Early Life
Early Political Career
Mayor of Tehran (2003–2005)
Presidency (2005–2013)
Life After the Presidency
Personal Life
Images for kids
See also

A Look at His Early Life

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born in the village of Aradan, near Garmsar, Iran. His father, Ahmad, was a barber and a religious Shia Muslim. When Mahmoud was one year old, his family moved to Tehran. His father changed the family's last name from "Sabbaghian" to "Ahmadinejad" to avoid problems in the new city.

In 1976, Ahmadinejad did very well on the national university entrance exam. He was ranked 132nd out of 400,000 students. He studied civil engineering at the Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran. He later earned his PhD in transportation engineering from the same university in 1997.

Early Political Career

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ahmadinejad became involved in politics. During the 1980s, he held several government jobs in different parts of Iran. He also served as a volunteer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran-Iraq War.

In 1993, he was appointed governor of the newly created Ardabil Province. He held this position until 1997, when a new president, Mohammad Khatami, replaced him. After that, he went back to teaching at the university.

Mayor of Tehran (2003–2005)

Ahmadinejad in 2003

In 2003, the city council of Tehran chose Ahmadinejad to be the city's mayor. As mayor, he made many changes that reflected his strong religious beliefs. For example, he separated elevators for men and women in city office buildings. He also focused on helping the poor by providing things like free soup.

He resigned as mayor in 2005 after he was elected president. During his time as mayor, he was nominated for the World Mayor award, which recognizes outstanding city leaders.

Presidency (2005–2013)

Ahmadinejad served two terms as the president of Iran. His presidency was marked by major changes in both domestic and foreign policy.

Presidential Elections

2005 Election

Ahmadinejad in 2005

When Ahmadinejad first ran for president in 2005, he was not very famous. He used the slogan, "It's possible and we can do it." He presented himself as a man of the people, promising to use Iran's oil money to help the poor. He won the election with 62% of the vote in the final round.

2009 Election and Protests

Ahmadinejad ran for a second term in 2009 and won again. However, many people believed the election was unfair. This led to massive protests across Iran, known as the Green Movement. Despite the protests, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, supported the results, and Ahmadinejad began his second term.

Domestic Policy

Ahmadinejad's policies at home focused on the economy, social issues, and the country's nuclear program.

Economic Plans

Ahmadinejad tried to help poor families by giving them financial support and keeping the price of gasoline low. However, his policies also led to some problems. For example, the cost of housing in cities went up, making it harder for young people to buy homes. Some economists criticized his government for its high spending.

Nuclear Program

Ahmadinejad at a United Nations conference in 2012

Ahmadinejad was a strong supporter of Iran's nuclear program. He always said that the program was for peaceful purposes, like creating electricity. He stated that building a nuclear bomb was against Iran's religion and laws.

However, many Western countries, including the United States, were worried that Iran was secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. This disagreement led to international pressure and sanctions (penalties) against the country.

Human Rights and Universities

During his presidency, Ahmadinejad's government was criticized by international groups for its human rights record. There were also changes in the university system. Some older professors were forced to retire and were replaced by younger ones. This was sometimes called a "second cultural revolution."

Foreign Relations

Ahmadinejad's approach to foreign policy was very different from the presidents before him. He built stronger relationships with countries in Latin America and Africa. However, his relationships with Western countries, especially the United States and Israel, became very tense.

Disagreements with Israel

Ahmadinejad followed Iran's policy of not recognizing Israel as a country. In 2005, he made a controversial speech where he was translated as saying that Israel "must be wiped off the map." This caused a lot of anger around the world.

Later, some language experts argued that the translation was not accurate. They said his words meant something more like "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time." Still, his comments were widely condemned. He was also criticized for making statements that questioned the history of the Holocaust.

Relationship with the United States

Ahmadinejad with other leaders at the second Caspian Summit in 2007.

Relations with the United States were very difficult during Ahmadinejad's presidency. At the United Nations, he made speeches that were highly critical of the U.S. government. In 2010, he claimed that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks, which caused many world leaders to walk out of his speech in protest.

Life After the Presidency

After leaving office in 2013, Ahmadinejad returned to his private life and teaching at the university. He was appointed to the Expediency Discernment Council by the Supreme Leader.

He tried to run for president again in 2017, 2021, and 2024, but he was not allowed to by the Guardian Council, a group that approves candidates.

In 2022, he surprised many by expressing support for Ukraine during the Russian invasion. This was different from the official position of the Iranian government, which was more supportive of Russia.

Personal Life

Ahmadinejad voting in the 2016 elections.

Ahmadinejad is married and has two sons and one daughter. He is known for living a simple life. When he became president, he chose not to live in a fancy palace. He reportedly replaced expensive carpets in the presidential palace with cheaper ones and preferred to fly on cargo planes instead of a special presidential jet.

Images for kids

Ahmadinejad in 2009
Ahmadinejad with Ali Khamenei, Ali Larijani and Sadeq Larijani in 2011
Ahmadinejad speaking in the Majlis (Iran's parliament)
Ahmadinejad with leaders of the Caspian sea nations
Ahmadinejad meeting with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Tehran
Ahmadinejad meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Beijing
A protest against Ahmadinejad during a conference in Brazil
Ahmadinejad in his presidential museum after leaving office
Ahmadinejad registering to run for president in 2021
Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University in 2007