Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born on 28 October 1956.He is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He became president after winning the 2005 presidential election and was re-elected to a second term in 2009 after a disputed election. Despite his title, he does not hold the highest constitutional office in Iran, which belongs to the Supreme Leader of Iran (Ali Khamenei), who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Iran, according to Article 113 of the Constitution of Iran.Prior to becoming president, Ahmadinejad was mayor of Tehran and governor general of Iran's Ardabil Province.[citation needed]

Ahmadinejad has been a critic of the United States and Israel, and backs strengthening Iran's relations with Russia, Venezuela, Syria, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.Ahmadinejad claims that Iran's nuclear program is for electricity generation and not for nuclear weapons development. Under his leadership, 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, though it has not followed through on this promise.

According to a speech translation disputed by the Iranian government, Ahmadinejad has called for the dissolution of the state of Israel.He also 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 of Iran Broadcasting translation, he called for the "occupying regime" 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.”Ahmadinejad also clarified, "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.He issued a directive, according to which the Management and Planning Organization should be affiliated to the government.
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Background

Ahmadinejad born Mahmoud Saborjhian is the son of a blacksmith, born near Garmsar in the village of Aradan on 28 October 1956.[citation needed] In the 1950s, when he was still a baby, his family moved from Aradan to Narmak district in southern Tehran in search of more economic prosperity;it was during this time period that the Saborjhian family, whose name derives from the once-common occupation of thread painter, changed its name to Ahmadinejad. According to his relatives, it was for "a mixture of religious and economic reasons." The new name means 'of the race of Muhammad' or 'of virtuous race' (ahmad meaning "virtuous" in Arabic and commonly used as a byname of Muhammad, and nejad being Farsi for "race" or "lineage"). During the presidential campaign in 2009, political opponents have speculated that the name was changed in order to cover Jewish roots.

In 1976, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took Iran's national university entrance contests. 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. He also received a PhD in transportation engineering and planning from IUST in 1997.Ahmadinejad is married and has two sons and a daughter. One of his sons formerly studied at the Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic).

Supporters of Ahmadinejad consider him a "simple man" that leads a "modest" life. Upon becoming president, he wanted to continue living in his "modest" family home in Tehran, until his security advisers forced him to move. Ahmadinejad rolled up the antique Persian carpets in the Presidential palace and sent them to a carpet museum, and used low-cost carpets instead. There are stories that he refused the V.I.P. seat on the Presidential plane, and that he eventually replaced it with a cargo plane instead.Also upon gaining Iran's presidency, Ahmadinejad held his first cabinet meeting in the Imam Reza shrine at Mashhad, an act perceived as "pious".

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 yearsand 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.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.Out of the 550 nominated mayors, nine were from Asia.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL5OsaVYz1I