Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
A man of much public controversy on the national stage, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the sixth and current president of Iran. Ahmadinejad entered his second term of presidency in 2009 after a highly-debated election. Because of large bodies of Iranians protesting and rebelling for a change of politics in the 2009 election, several Iranian politicians, Western governments, and international bodies have also questioned the 2009 presidential election results. Controversial topics involving President Ahmadinejad before the election include discussions on the intentions of Iran's nuclear program, Ahmadinejad's remarks about the Holocaust and questions about Iran opening up its elections so that Palestinians can vote.
Ahmadinejad entered the Science and Technology University (STU) in Tehran in 1975 and studied civil engineering. He continued at the university and became a member of the civil engineering faculty there in 1989. He later earned a PhD in transportation engineering and planning from STU in 1997. While at the university, Ahmadinejad became politically active. After the Islamic Revolution in January 1979, he helped found the Islamic Association of Students in the Science and Technology University and became a member of the Revolutionary Guard.
Since the war, Ahmadinejad has held a number of government posts, including serving as governor of Maku and of Khoy. A religious and political conservative, he became mayor of Tehran in 2003 and quickly began repealing reforms put in place before by the earlier, more moderate local government.Only two years later, with strong support from conservative leaders, Ahmadinejad ran for president. He promised to resolve issues of poverty, social injustice, corruption, and economics. Positioning himself as a man of the people, he won in a run-off election on June 24, 2005.
Often wearing a plain tan jacket, Ahmadinejad is said to live a simple life outside of politics. He is married and has three children.
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