Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (28 October 1956-), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian, was President of Iran from 3 August 2005 to 3 August 2013, succeeding Mohammad Khatami and preceding Hassan Rouhani.
Biography[]
Mahmoud Sabbaghian was born in Aradan, Semnan, Iran in 1956, and he came from a poor family; he became a teacher and engineer, and he changed his last name to "Ahmadinejad". He joined the Office for Strengthening Unity after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from 1986 to 1988 during the Iran-Iraq War, and served as Governor of Ardabil from 1993 to 1997, preceding Seyyed Hamid Tahayi. He was removed from office when the liberal Mohammad Khatami was elected president, and he returned to being a teacher before being elected Mayor of Tehran in 2003. During his two years in office, Ahmadinejad banned fast food and reversed the reforms of previous moderate reformers, taking a religious hard line. In 2005, he won the presidency with 62% of the vote, and he was criticized for his disregard for human rights, his hostility towards the West and the Arab World, and his rabid anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. Both reformers and traditionalists in the parliament opposed him, as did the IRGC and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In 2013, Ahmadinejad left office after two terms, and his nomination for president in 2017 was rejected by the Guardian Council.