During his presidency, Ahmadinejad was a controversial figure both inIran and worldwide. He was criticized domestically for his economic policies,[23] and was accused of disregard forhuman rights by organizations in North America and Europe.[24] Outside of Iran, he was criticized for his hostility towards countries includingIsrael, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and otherWestern andArab states. In 2007, Ahmadinejad introduced agasoline rationing plan to reduce the country's fuel consumption and cut the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge.[25][26][27] He supportsIran's nuclear program. Hiselection to a second term in 2009 was widely disputed,[28][29] and led to widespreadprotests domestically and criticism from Western countries.[30]
During his second term, Ahmadinejad experienced a power struggle with reformers and other traditionalists in Parliament and theRevolutionary Guard,[31] as well as with Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei,[32] over his dismissal of intelligence ministerGholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i and his support for his controversial close adviser,Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.[33] On 14 March 2012, Ahmadinejad became the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran to be summoned by theIslamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) to answer questions regarding his presidency.[34][35] Limited to two terms under the currentIranian constitution, Ahmadinejad supported Mashaei's campaign for president.[31] In 2013,Hassan Rouhani waselected as Ahmadinejad's successor.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born on 28 October 1956 in the village ofAradan, nearGarmsar,Semnan province. His mother, Khanom, was aSayyida, anhonorific title given to those believed to be direct bloodline descendants of the Islamic prophetMuhammad.[42] His father, Ahmad, was a Persian grocer and barber, and was a religiousShia Muslim who taught theQuran.[42]
When Mahmoud was one year old, his family moved toTehran. Mahmoud's father changed theirfamily name from "Saborjhian"[43] or "Sabbaghian" (Persian:صباغیان)[e][5] to Ahmadinejad in 1960 to avoid discrimination when the family moved to the city.[5]Sabor is Persian for thread-painter,[f] a once common occupation within the Semnan carpet industry.Ahmadinejad is a composite ofAhmadi andNejad. Ahmad was his father's name. The suffixNejad in Persian means race, therefore the term Ahmadi Nejad means "the lineage of Ahmad". According to the interviews with the relatives of Ahmadi Nejad, his father, at that point working as a shopkeeper, sold his house in Tehran and bought a smaller house, giving the excess funds to charity and poor people.[47]
In 1976, Ahmadinejad took Iran's national university entrance examination. According to his autobiography, he was ranked 132nd out of 400,000 participants that year,[48] and soon enrolled in theIran University of Science and Technology (IUST), located at Tehran, as an undergraduate student of civil engineering. He would later earn his doctorate in 1997 in transportation engineering and planning from Iran University of Science and Technology as well, when he was the mayor ofArdabil Province, located at the north-west of the country.[citation needed]
Some details of Ahmadinejad's life during the 1980s are not publicly known, but it is known that he held a number of administrative posts in the province ofWest Azerbaijan,Iran.[49]
Many reports say that afterSaddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Iran, Ahmadinejad joined theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps[citation needed] and served in their intelligence and security apparatus,[citation needed] but his advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi has said: "He has never been a member or an official member of the Revolutionary Guards", having been aBasiji-like volunteer instead.[50]
Ahmadinejad was accepted to aMaster of Science program at his alma mater in 1986. He joined the faculty there as a lecturer in 1989,[14][51] and in 1997 received hisdoctorate in civil engineering and traffic transportation planning.[14]
Ahmadinejad first assumed political office as unelected governor to bothMaku andKhoy inWest Azarbaijan Province during the 1980s.[citation needed] He eventually became an advisor to the governor general ofKurdistan Province for two years.[14][51] During his doctoral studies at Tehran, he was appointed governor general of newly formedArdabil Province from 1993 untilMohammad Khatami removed him in 1997, whereupon he returned to teaching.[51]
As mayor, he reversed changes made by previousmoderate andreformist mayors. He put religious emphasis on the activities of cultural centres they had founded, publicised the separation ofelevators for men and women in the municipality offices,[20] and suggested that people killed in theIran–Iraq War be buried in majorcity squares of Tehran. He also worked to improve the traffic system and put an emphasis oncharity, such as distributing free soup to the poor.[citation needed]
After his election to the presidency, Ahmadinejad's resignation as the Mayor of Tehran was accepted on 28 June 2005. After two years as mayor, Ahmadinejad was one of 65 finalists forWorld Mayor in 2005, selected from 550 nominees, only nine of them from Asia.[52] He was among three strong candidates for the top-ten list, but his resignation made him ineligible.[52]
Ahmadinejad was not particularly well known when he entered the presidential election campaign as he had never run for office before, (he had been mayor of Tehran for only two years and had been appointed, not elected),[53]: 315 although he had already made his mark in Tehran for rolling back earlier reforms. He was/is a member of theCentral Council of the Islamic Society of Engineers, but his key political support is inside theAlliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (Abadgaran orDevelopers).[54] He was also helped by support from supreme leaderAli Khamenei, of whom some described Ahmadinejad as a protégé.[55]
Ahmadinejad was largely non-committal about his plans for his presidency, perhaps to attract bothreligious conservatives and the lower economic classes.[56] His campaign slogan was: "It's possible and we can do it".[57]
In the campaign, he took a populist approach. He emphasized his own modest life, and compared himself withMohammad Ali Rajai, Iran's second president. Ahmadinejad said he planned to create an "exemplary government for the people of the world" in Iran.[citation needed] He was a "principlist", acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary principles. One of his goals was "putting the petroleum income on people's tables", meaning Iran's oil profits would be distributed among the poor.[58]
Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. He toldIslamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting theUnited Nations was "one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam." He opposed theveto power of theUN Security Council's five permanent members: "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 defendedIran's nuclear program and accused "a few arrogant powers" of trying to limit Iran's industrial and technological development in this and other fields.[citation needed]
In his second-round campaign, he said, "We didn't participate in the revolution for turn-by-turn government. ... This revolution tries to reach a world-wide government." He spoke of an extended program using trade to improve foreign relations, and called for greater ties with Iran's neighbours and endingvisa requirements between states in the region, saying that "people should visit anywhere they wish freely. People should have freedom in theirpilgrimages and tours."[57]
Ahmadinejad describedAyatollahMohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a senior cleric fromQom, as his ideological and spiritual mentor. Mesbah founded theHaghani School of thought in Iran.[citation needed] He and his team strongly supported Ahmadinejad's 2005 presidential campaign.[59]
Iran's president is constitutionally obliged to obtain confirmation from theparliament for his selection of ministers.[64] Ahmadinejad presented a short-list at a private meeting on 5 August, and his final list on 14 August. The Majlis rejected all of his cabinet candidates for the oil portfolio and objected to the appointment of his allies in senior government office.[58] The Majlis approved a cabinet on 24 August.[65] The ministers promised to meet frequently outside Tehran and held their first meeting on 25 August inMashhad, with four empty seats for the unapproved nominees.[66]
Ahmadinejad's team lost the 2006 city council elections.[67] In the first nationwide election since Ahmadinejad became president, his allies failed to dominate election returns for theAssembly of Experts and local councils. Results, with a turnout of about 60%, suggested a voter shift toward more moderate policies. According to an editorial in the Kargozaran independentdaily newspaper, "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 andMesbah Yazdi's list."[67]
On 23 August 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.[68] 39,165,191 ballots were cast in the election on 12 June 2009, according to Iran's election headquarters. Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, (62.63%). In second place,Mir-Hossein Mousavi, won 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes.[69]
The election results remained in dispute with both Mousavi and Ahmadinejad and their respective supporters who believe thatelectoral fraud occurred during the election. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed Ahmadinejad as president on 3 August 2009, and Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August 2009.[70] Iran's Constitution stipulatesterm limits of two terms for the office of President.[71] Several Iranian political figures appeared to avoid the ceremony. Former presidentsMohammad Khatami, andAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was then head of theExpediency Discernment Council, along with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, did not attend the ceremony.[72] Opposition groups asked protesters on reformist websites and blogs to launch new street demonstrations on the day of the inauguration ceremony.[73] On inauguration day, hundreds of riot police met opposition protesters outside parliament. After taking the oath of office, which was broadcast live onIranian state television, Ahmadinejad said that he would "protect the official faith, the system of the Islamic revolution and the constitution."[70] France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States announced that they would not send the usual letters of congratulation.[70]
Ahmadinejad announced controversial ministerial appointments for his second term.Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei was briefly appointed as first vice president, but opposed by a number of Majlis members and by the intelligence minister,Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i. Mashaei followed orders to resign. Ahmadinejad then appointed Mashaei as chief of staff, and fired Mohseni-Eje'i.[74]
On 26 July 2009, Ahmadinejad's government faced a legal problem after he sacked four ministers. Iran's constitution (Article 136) stipulates that, if more than half of its members are replaced, the cabinet may not meet or act before the Majlis approves the revised membership.[75] The vice chairman of the Majlis announced that no cabinet meetings or decisions would be legal, pending such a re-approval.[76]
Ahmadinejad 2009
On 4 September 2009, the Majlis approved 18 of the 21 cabinet candidates, and rejected three, including two women.Sousan Keshavarz,Mohammad Aliabadi, andFatemeh Ajorlou were not approved by Majlis for the Ministries of Education, Energy, and Welfare and Social Security, respectively.Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi was the first woman approved by the Majlis as a minister in the Islamic Republic of Iran.[77]
Ahmadinejad suffered a defeat inMarch/May 2012 parliamentary elections with Ayatollah Khamenei's "Principalist" allies winning about three quarters of the parliaments 290 seats, and Ahmadinejad supporters far fewer.[78]
In Ahmadinejad's first four years as president, Iran's real GDP reflected growth of the economy. Inflation and unemployment also decreased under Ahmadinejad due to better economic management and ending the unsustainable spending and borrowing patterns of previous administrations .[79] Ahmadinejad increased spending by 25% and supportedsubsidies for food andpetrol. He also initially refused a gradual increase of petrol prices, saying that after making necessary preparations, such as a development ofpublic transportation system, the government would free up petrol prices after five years.[80] Interest rates were cut by presidential decree to below the inflation rate. One unintended effect of this stimulation of the economy has been the bidding up of some urban real estate prices by two or three times their pre-Ahmadinejad value by Iranians seeking to invest surplus cash and finding few other safe opportunities. The resulting increase in the cost of housing hurt poorer, non-property owning Iranians, the putative beneficiaries of Ahmadinejad's populist policies.[81] The Management and Planning Organisation, a state body charged with mapping out long-term economic and budget strategy, was broken up and its experienced managers were fired.[82]
In June 2006, 50 Iranian economists wrote a letter to Ahmadinejad that criticized his price interventions to stabilize prices of goods, cement, government services, and his decree issued by the High Labor Council and the Ministry of Labor that proposed an increase of workers' salaries by 40%. Ahmadinejad publicly responded harshly to the letter and denounced the accusations.[83][84] Ahmadinejad called for "middle-of-the-road" compromises with respect to Western-orientedcapitalism andsocialism. Current political conflicts with the United States caused the central bank to fear increasedcapital flight due toglobal isolation. These factors prevented an improvement of infrastructure and capital influx, despite high economic potential.[79] Among those that did not vote for him in the first election, only 3.5% said they would consider voting for him in the next election.[85]Mohammad Khoshchehreh, a member of theIranian parliament that campaigned for Ahmadinejad, said that his government "has been strong on populist slogans, but weak on achievement."[86]
President Ahmadinejad changed almost all of his economic ministers, including oil, industry and economy, since coming to power in 2005. In an interview with Fars News Agency in April 2008,Davoud Danesh Jaafari who acted as minister of economy in Ahmadinejad's cabinet, harshly criticized his economic policy: "During my time, there was no positive attitude towards previous experiences or experienced people and there was no plan for the future. Peripheral issues which were not of dire importance to the nation were given priority. Most of the scientific economic concepts like the effect of liquidity on inflation were put in question."[87] In response to these criticisms, Ahmadinejad accused his minister of not being "a man of justice" and declared that the solution to Iran's economic problem is "the culture of martyrdom".[88] In May 2008, the petroleum minister of Iran admitted that the government illegally invested 2 billion dollars to import petrol in 2007. At Iranian parliament, he also mentioned that he simply followed the president's order.[89]
While his government had 275 thousand billiontoman oil income, the highest in Iranian history, Ahmadinejad's government had the highest budget deficit since the Iranian revolution.[90]
During his presidency, Ahmadinejad launched agasoline 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.[25][26][91] He issued a directive that theManagement and Planning Organization be affiliated to the government.[92] In May 2011, Ahmadinejad announced that he would temporarily run the Oil Ministry.[93]
In October 2006, Ahmadinejad began calling for the scrapping of Iran's existing birth-control policies which discouraged Iranian couples from having more than two children. He toldMPs that Iran could cope with 50 million more people than the current 70 million. In November 2010, he urged Iranians to marry and reproduce earlier: "We should take the age of marriage for boys to 20 and for girls to about 16 and 17."[94] His remarks have drawn criticism and been called ill-judged at a time when Iran was struggling with surging inflation and rising unemployment, estimated at 11%. Ahmadinejad's call was reminiscent of a call for Iranians to have more children made by AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini in 1979. The policy had increased Iran's population by 16 million in seven years[53]: 321 but had eventually been reversed in response to the resultant economic strain.[95]
In 2008, the government sent the "Family Protection Bill" to the Iranian parliament. Women's rights activists criticized the bill for removing protections from women, such as the requirement that a husband obtain his wife's consent beforemarrying a second wife. Women's rights in Iran are more religiously based than those in secular countries.[96]
The first legislation to emerge from his newly formed government was a 12 trillionrial (US$1.3 billion) fund called"Reza's Compassion Fund",[97] named afterShi'aImamAli al-Rida. Ahmadinejad's government said this fund would tap Iran's oil revenues to help young people get jobs, afford marriage, and buy their own homes.[98] The fund also sought charitable donations, with aboard of trustees in each of Iran's 30 provinces. The legislation was a response to the cost of urban housing, which is pushing up the national average marital age (currently around 25 years for women and 28 years for men). In 2006 the Iranian parliament rejected the fund; however, Ahmadinejad ordered the administrative council to execute the plan.[97]
According to a report byHuman Rights Watch, "Since President Ahmadinejad came to power, treatment of detainees has worsened inEvin Prison as well as in detention centers operated clandestinely by the Judiciary, the Ministry of Information, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."[99]: 464 Human Rights Watch also has stated, "Respect for basic human rights in Iran, especially freedom of expression and assembly, deteriorated in 2006. The government routinely tortures and mistreats detained dissidents, including through prolonged solitary confinement."[99]: 463 Human Rights Watch described the source of human rights violations in contemporary Iran as coming from the Judiciary, accountable toAli Khamenei, and from members directly appointed by Ahmadinejad.[citation needed] Responses to dissent have varied. Human Rights Watch writes that "the Ahmadinejad government, in a pronounced shift from the policy under former president Mohammed Khatami, has shown no tolerance for peaceful protests and gatherings." In December 2006, Ahmadinejad advised officials not to disturb students who engaged in a protest during a speech of his at theAmirkabir University of Technology in Tehran,[100][101] although speakers at other protests have included among their complaints that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.[102] In April 2007, the Tehran police, which is under Khamenei's supervision, began a crackdown on women with "improperhijab". This led to criticism from associates of Ahmadinejad.[103] In 2012, Ahmadinejad claimed that AIDS was created by the West in order to weaken poorer countries, and repeated a previous claim that homosexual Iranians did not exist.[104] He has also described homosexuality as "ugly".[105][106]
In 2006, the Ahmadinejad[107] government reportedly forced numerous Iranian scientists and university professors to resign or to retire. It has been referred to as the "second cultural revolution".[108][109] The policy has been said to replace old professors with younger ones.[110] Some university professors received letters indicating their early retirement unexpectedly.[111] In November 2006, 53 university professors had to retire fromIran University of Science and Technology.[112]
In 2006, Ahmadinejad's government applied a 50%quota for male students and 50% for female students in the university entrance exam formedicine,dentistry andpharmacy. The plan was supposed to stop the growing presence of female students in the universities. In a response to critics, Iranian minister of health and medical education,Kamran Bagheri Lankarani argued that there are not enough facilities such as dormitories for female students.[citation needed] Masoud Salehi, president of Zahedan University said that presence of women generates some problems with transportation.[citation needed] Also, Ebrahim Mekaniki, president ofBabol University of Medical Sciences, stated that an increase in the presence of women will make it difficult to distribute facilities in a suitable manner.[citation needed] Bagher Larijani, the president ofTehran University of Medical Sciences made similar remarks.[citation needed] According toRooz Online, the quotas lack a legal foundation and are justified as support for "family" and "religion".[citation needed]
In response to the students' slogans, the president said: "We have been standing up to dictatorship so that no one will dare to establish dictatorship in a millennium even in the name of freedom. Given the scars inflicted on the Iranian nation by agents of the US and British dictatorship, no one will ever dare to initiate the rise of a dictator."[114] It was reported that even though the protesters broke the TV cameras and threw hand-made bombs at Ahmadinejad,[115] the president asked the officials not to question or disturb the protesters.[100][101] In his blog, Ahmadinejad described his reaction to the incident as "a feeling of joy" because of the freedom that people enjoyed after the revolution.[116]
One thousand students also protested the day before to denounce the increased pressure on the reformist groups at the university. One week prior, more than two thousand students protested atTehran University on the country's annual student day, with speakers saying that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.[113][117]
Ahmadinejad has been a vocal supporter ofIran's nuclear program, and has insisted that it is for peaceful purposes. He has repeatedly emphasized that building anuclear bomb is not the policy of his government. He has said that such a policy is "illegal and against our religion".[118][119] He also added at a January 2006 conference in Tehran that a nation with "culture, logic and civilization" would not need nuclear weapons, and that countries that seek nuclear weapons are those that want to solve all problems by the use of force.[120]
In April 2006, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully refineduranium to a stage suitable for thenuclear fuel cycle. In a speech to students and academics inMashhad, he was quoted as saying that Iran's conditions had changed completely as it had become a nuclear state and could talk to other states from that stand.[121] On 13 April 2006, Iran's news agency,Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the peaceful Iranian nuclear technology would not pose a threat to any party because "we want peace and stability and we will not cause injustice to anyone and at the same time we will not submit to injustice."[122] Nevertheless, Iran's nuclear policy under Ahmadinejad's administration received much criticism, spearheaded by the United States and Israel. The accusations include that Iran is striving to obtain nuclear arms and developing long-range firing capabilities—and that Ahmadinejad issued an order to keepUN inspectors from freely visiting the nation's nuclear facilities and viewing their designs, in defiance of anIAEA resolution.[123][124][125][126] Following a May 2009 test launch of a long-rangemissile, Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling the crowd that with its nuclear program, Iran was sending the West a message that "the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show."[127]
Despite Ahmadinejad's vocal support for the program, the office of the Iranian president is not directly responsible for nuclear policy. It is instead set by theSupreme National Security Council. The council includes two representatives appointed by theSupreme Leader, military officials, and members of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, and reports directly to Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei, who issued afatwa against nuclear weapons in 2005.[128] Khamenei has criticized Ahmadinejad's "personalization" of the nuclear issue.[129]
Ahmadinejad vowed in February 2008 that Iran will not be held back from developing its peaceful nuclear program.[130]
In October 2009, theUnited States,France, andRussia proposed a U.N.-drafted deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program, in an effort to find a compromise between Iran's stated need for a nuclear reactor and the concerns of those who are worried that Iran harbors a secret intent of developing a nuclear weapon. After some delay in responding, on 29 October, Ahmadinejad seemed to change his tone towards the deal. "We welcome fuel exchange, nuclear co-operation, building of power plants and reactors and we are ready to co-operate," he said in a live broadcast on state television.[131] He added that Iran would not retreat "one iota" on its right to a sovereign nuclear program.[132]
According to Brussels-based NGOInternational Crisis Group, Ahmadinejad has been criticized for attacking private "plunderers" and "corrupt officials", while engaging in "cronyism and political favouritism". Many of his close associates were appointed to positions for which they have no obvious qualifications, and "billion dollar no-bid contracts" were awarded to theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an organization with which he is strongly associated.[133]
According to Najmeh Bozorgmehr of theFinancial Times, "Iran has a long history of cronyism and corruption under its monarchies and the Islamic Republic. But the scale of corruption under Mr. Ahmadinejad was of a different order, according to both reform-minded and conservative politicians."[134]
Participants of the second Caspian Summit in October 2007. From left to right: President of AzerbaijanIlham Aliev, President of TurkmenistanGurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, President of KazakhstanNursultan Nazarbaev, President of RussiaVladimir Putin and President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In June 2007, Ahmadinejad was criticized by some Iranian parliament members over his remark aboutChristianity andJudaism. According to Aftab News Agency, Ahmadinejad stated: "In the world, there are deviations from the right path: Christianity and Judaism. Dollars have been devoted to the propagation of these deviations. There are also false claims that these [religions] will save mankind. But Islam is the only religion that [can] save mankind." Some members of Iranian parliament criticized these remarks as being fuels to religious war.[135][136]
Conservative MP Rafat Bayat has accused Ahmadinejad for a decline in observance of the requiredhijab for women, calling him "not that strict on this issue".[137] Ahmadinejad was also accused of indecency by people close toRafsanjani,[138] after he publicly kissed the hand of a woman who used to be his school teacher.[139]
There are two statements that led to criticism from some religious authorities. One concerns his speech at theUnited Nations, and the other concerns the attendance of women at football matches. During a visit to group of Ayatollahs inQom after returning from his 2005 speech to theUN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad stated he had "felt a halo over his head" during his speech and that a hidden presence had mesmerized the unblinking audience of foreign leaders, foreign ministers, and ambassadors. Ahmadinejad closed his speech with a call for the "mighty Lord" to "hasten the emergence" ofImam Mahdi.[140] According to Iranian-American journalistHooman Majd, the response given to Ahmadinejad at the assembly was offensive to the conservative religious leaders because an ordinary man cannot presume a special closeness to God or any of theImams, nor can he imply the presence of the Mahdi.[141]
In another statement in 2006, Ahmadinejad proclaimed (without consulting the clerics beforehand), that women be allowed into football stadiums to watch male football clubs compete. This proclamation "was quickly overruled" by clerical authorities, one of whom, Grand AyatollahMohammad Fazel Lankarani "refused for weeks to meet with President Ahmadinejad" in early 2007.[141]
In 2008, a serious conflict emerged between the Iranian President and the head of parliament over three laws approved by the Iranian parliament: "the agreement for civil and criminal legal cooperation between Iran and Kyrgyzstan", "the agreement to support mutual investment between Iran and Kuwait", and "the law for registration of industrial designs and trademarks". The conflict was so serious that the Iranian leader stepped in to resolve it. Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to the parliamentary speakerGholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, furiously denouncing him for the "inexplicable act" of bypassing the presidency by giving the order to implement legislation in an official newspaper.[citation needed] Ahmadinejad accused the head of parliament of violating Iranian constitutional law. He called for legal action against the parliament speaker.[142] Haddad-Adel responded to Ahmadinejad accusing him of using inappropriate language in his remarks and letters.[143]
In August 2008, Ahmadinejad appointedAli Kordan as interior minister. Kordan's appointment was heavily criticized by Iranian parliamentarians, media and analysts after it came to light that a doctoral degree purportedly awarded to Kordan was fabricated, and that the putative issuer of the degree,Oxford University, had no record of Kordan receiving any degree from the university.[144] It was also revealed that he had been jailed in 1978 for moral charges.[145]
In November 2008, Ahmadinejad announced that he was against impeachment of Kordan by Iranian parliament. He refused to attend the parliament on the impeachment day.[146] Kordan was expelled from office by Iranian parliament on 4 November 2008. 188 MPs voted against him. An impeachment of Kordan would push Ahmadinejad close to having to submit his entire cabinet for review by parliament, which was led by one of his chief political opponents. Iran's constitution requires that step if more than half the cabinet ministers are replaced, and Ahmadinejad replaced nine of 21 until that date.[147][148]
Ahmadinejad speaking in the Majlis, ChairmanAli Larijani is also pictured
In February 2009, afterSupreme Audit Court of Iran reported that $1.058 billion of surplusoil revenue in the (2006–2007) budget hadn't been returned by the government to the national treasury,[149] Tensions between Larijani and Ahmadinejad continued into 2013.[150]
Ahmadinejad criticized the National Audit Office for what he called its "carelessness", saying the report "incites the people" against the government.[151]
In May 2011, several members of parliament threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Ahmadinejad after his merger of eight government ministries and the firing of three ministers without parliament's consent. According to the Majles news website, MPMohammad Reza Bahonar stated, "legal purging starts with questions, which lead to warnings and end with impeachment." On 25 May, parliament voted to investigate another allegation, that Ahmadinejad had committed election irregularities by giving cash to up to nine million Iranians before the 2009 presidential elections. The vote came within hours after the allegations appeared in several popular conservative news sites associated with supreme leaderAli Khamenei, suggesting the supreme leader supported the investigation.[152] The disputes were seen as part of the clash between Ahmadinejad and other conservatives and former supporters, including supreme leader Khamenei, over what the conservatives see as Ahmadinejad's confrontational policies and abuse of power.[152][153]
Early in his presidency, Ahmadinejad was sometimes described as "enjoy[ing] the full backing" of theSupreme LeaderAli Khamenei,[154] and even as being his "protege".[155] In Ahmadinejad's 2005 inauguration the supreme leader allowed Ahmadinejad to kiss his hand and cheeks in what was called "a sign of closeness and loyalty",[156] and after the 2009 election fully endorsed Ahmadinejad against protesters.
However, as early as January 2008, signs of disagreement between the two men developed over domestic policies,[154] and by the period of 2010–11 several sources detected a "growing rift" between them.[157][32] The disagreement was described as centered onEsfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a top adviser and close confidant of Ahmadinejad[33] and opponent of "greater involvement of clerics in politics",[158] who was first vice president of Iran until being ordered to resign from the cabinet by the supreme leader.
In 2009, Ahmadinejad dismissed Intelligence MinisterGholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, an opponent of Mashaei. In April 2011, another Intelligence minister,Heydar Moslehi, resigned after being asked to by Ahmadinejad, but was reinstated by the supreme leader within hours.[155][159] Ahmadinejad declined to officially back Moslehi's reinstatement for two weeks and in protest engaged in an "11-day walkout" of cabinet meetings, religious ceremonies, and other official functions.[32][159] Ahmadinejad's actions led to angry public attacks by clerics, parliamentarians and military commanders, who accused him of ignoring orders from the supreme leader.[33]
Conservative opponents in parliament launched an "impeachment drive" against him,[158] four websites with ties to Ahmadinejad reportedly were "filtered and blocked",[155] and several people "said to be close" to the president and Mashaei (such asAbbas Amirifar andMohammed Sharif Malekzadeh) were arrested on charges of being "magicians" and invokingdjinns.[32] On 6 May 2011, it was reported that Ahmadinejad had been given an ultimatum to accept the leader's intervention or resign,[160] and on 8 May, he "apparently bowed" to the reinstatement, welcoming back Moslehi to a cabinet meeting.[161] The events have been said to have "humiliated and weakened" Ahmadinejad, though the president denied that there had been any rift between the two,[33] and according to the semiofficialFars News Agency, he stated that his relationship with the supreme leader "is that of a father and a son".[158]
In 2012, Khamenei ordered a halt to a parliamentary inquiry into Ahmadinejad's mishandling of the Iranian economy.[162] In 2016, Khamenei advised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his former ally with whom his relationship was strained after Ahmadinejad accused his sonMojtaba Khamenei of embezzling from the state treasury,[163] to not run for president again.[164][165][166][167][168]
Ahmadinejad was criticised by the religious and political groups in Iran for photographs taken of him embracingElena Frias de Chávez, the mother of recently deceased Venezuelan presidentHugo Chávez, at his funeral. In the image, Ahmadinejad was thought to be holding her hands and in a cheek-to-cheek embrace; such an act, touching an unrelated woman, is consideredharaam (forbidden) in some interpretations of Islam.[169][170] Iranian government officials responded by stating that the image was a fake, then released a second photo showing Ahmadinejad in the same pose, but in this case hugging a man.[171] This later photograph was debunked when it was discovered that the other man was Egyptian opposition leaderMohamed ElBaradei, who had not been at the funeral.[171]
One of the most frequent criticisms about Ahmadinejad was thenepotism in his governments. Nepotism was one of his habits in appointing senior government officials.[172][173] His elder brother,Davoud, was appointed chief inspector at the presidency in 2005 and was in office until 2008.[174][175] His sister,Parvin, served at the presidential's women's center.[172] His nephew,Ali Akbar Mehrabian, served as the mining and industry minister in his cabinet.[172] His daughter's father-in-law,Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, served at several senior positions.[175][176] His brother-in-law,Masoud Zaribafan, served as cabinet secretary.[174]
Countries visited by President Ahmadinejad during his terms in office
During Ahmadinejad's tenure as President of Iran the foreign policy of the country took a different approach from the previous administration. Relations withdeveloped countries generally soured while relations withless-developed countries, including those in Africa and Latin America, rose. In light of the calls for sanctions on Iran for its nuclear weapons programme, Ahmadinejad and his foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, traveled extensively throughout the two regions, as well as hosted other leaders. Relations with theALBA states, andVenezuela,Bolivia, andEcuador, in particular, were most strengthened. Relations with America during theBush administration and Israel deteriorated further.[citation needed]
Ahmadinejad with leaders of theCaspian sea bordering nations
Ahmadinejad abides by Iran's long-standing policy of refusing to recognizeIsrael as a legitimate state, and wants the Jewish people who immigrated to Israel to return to their "fatherlands".[179]
In 2005, Ahmadinejad, in a speech praising the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, was translated by Iranian state-run media as saying that "Israel must be wiped off the map."[180][181][182] A controversy erupted over the translation, with specialists such asJuan Cole of the University of Michigan and Arash Norouzi of the Mossadegh Project pointing out that the original statement inFarsi did not say that Israel should be wiped off the map, but instead that it would collapse.[183][184][185] The words 'Israel', 'map', and 'to wipe off' are non-existent in the Iranian speech's original. According to another IRNA translation, on the occasion of a commemoration of the anniversary of Khomeini's death on 3 June 2008, Ahmadinejad stated that "The corrupt element will be wiped off the map."[186] Contextually, Ahmadinejad was quoting Khomeini's words about the imminent disappearance of the Soviet Union and the Shah's regime, and tacked on his remarks concerning Israel. InKatajun Amirpur's analysis, there is no implication in the text that Iran intended destroying Israel or annihilating the Jewish people, any more than Khomeini was suggesting with his words that the Russians, or the Iranian people themselves under the Shah would be extinguished.[186] Ahmadinejad is on the record as stating that Iran had no plans to attack Israel.[186] The statement itself was in fact a citation, with a minute verbal variation, of a remark made by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, which had created no furor at the time, but did so when Ahmadinejad quoted them in 2005.[187]
Dan Meridor, Israel's minister of intelligence and atomic energy said during anAl Jazeera interview that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had repeatedly said "that Israel is an unnatural creature, it will not survive. They didn't say, 'We'll wipe it out,' you're right, but, 'It will not survive.'" adding "If Iran says this, and continues to pile up uranium that they enrich, and build missiles in big numbers, and have a nuclear military plan—if you put all this together, you can't say, they don't really mean it."[188]The Washington Post's fact-checker editor Glenn Kessler says the interpretation gets murkier when Ahmadinejad's quote is set against other Iranian propaganda. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, cites proof that the Iranian government releases propaganda that clearly says Israel should be "wiped off". Joshua Teitelbaum of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs discovered pictures of Iranian propaganda banners that clearly say in English: "Israel should be wiped out of the face of the world."[189][190] In March 2016, Iran tested a ballistic missile painted with the phrase "Israel should be wiped off the Earth" in Hebrew. The missile is reported to be capable of reaching Israel.[191][192][193][194]
The Official Web site of thePresident of Iran quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on 15 May 2011 "The reason for our insistence that the Zionist regime should be wiped out and vanished is that the Zionist regime is the main base for imposing oppression and harbors the main terrorists of the world."[195]
He was strongly criticized after claiming that the Jewsinvented theHolocaust[196] and making other statements influenced by "classic anti-Semitic ideas",[197] which has led to accusations ofantisemitism.[198] Ahmadinejad denied that he was an antisemite, saying that he "respects Jews very much" and that he was not "passing judgment" on the Holocaust.[178][199][200][201] Later, Ahmadinejad claimed that promoting Holocaust denial was a major achievement of his presidency; he stated that "put[ting] it forward at the global level ... broke the spine of the Western capitalist regime". The comments appeared on the Arabic but not on the English version ofFars News Agency's website.[202]
Demonstration against Ahmadinejad during theRio+20 conference inBrazil
Ahmadinejad advocates "free elections" for the region, and believesPalestinians need a stronger voice in the region's future.[203] OnQuds Day in September 2010 he criticized thePalestinian Authority over its president's decision to renew direct peace talks with Israel saying the talks are "stillborn" and "doomed to fail", urging the Palestinians to continue armed resistance to Israel.[204][205] He said thatMahmoud Abbas had no authority to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians.[206][207] Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, fired back, saying, Ahmadinejad "does not represent the Iranian people, ..., is not entitled to talk about Palestine, or the President of Palestine".[208][209]
In September 2010, Ahmadinejad made a contentious assertion at the 65th session of theUnited NationsGeneral Assembly by claiming thatmost people believe theUnited States government was behind the9/11 attacks and later called for an inquiry, stating: "The fact-finding mission can shed light on who the perpetrators were, who is al-Qaeda ... where does it exist? Who was it backed by and supported? All these should come to light."[210][211] The speech triggered many countries'United Nations representatives to walk out, and US PresidentBarack Obama described the claims as "inexcusable", "offensive" and "hateful".[212] In 2010, Ahmadinejad reiterated the 9/11 conspiracy, and wrote:
Establishing an independent and impartial committee of investigation, which would determine the roots and causes of the regrettable event of 9/11, is the demand of all the peoples of the region and the world. ... Any opposition to this legal and human demand means that 9/11 was premeditated in order to achieve the goals of occupation and of confrontation with the nations.[213]
He made similar comments at the 66th session in September 2011.[214][215]
Ahmadinejad is said to have "forged a close public friendship" with Venezuelan presidentHugo Chávez. On Chavez's death in March 2013, Ahmadinejad posted a condolence message on his website stating, "I have no doubt that he [Chavez] willreturn alongsideJesus Christ andMahdi to establish peace and justice in the world".[216]
Ahmad Khatami a senior Iranian cleric said that Ahmadinejad went "too far" with his comments. Hossein Rouhaninejad of Iran's Islamic development organisation said the president's remarks were against Shia Islam beliefs. Another senior cleric, Seyed Mahdi rebuke Ahmadinejad saying his comments were "legally and religiously wrong".[217][218]
Ahmadinejad in hispresidential museum, known as Office of the Former President of Islamic Republic of Iran
Ahmadinejad left his office at Pasteur St. on 3 August 2013 and returned to his private house inNarmak.[219]
In an interview withCNN, Ahmadinejad said that, after the end of his presidency, he would return to the university and retire from politics; however, Ahmadinejad announced from Russia on the sidelines of anOPEC summit on 2 July 2013 that he might stay involved with politics by creating a new party ornon-governmental organization.[220] In late July,Mehr news agency reported that Ahmadinejad obtained permission from theSupreme Cultural Revolution Council to launch a university for post-graduate studies in Tehran.[221] On 5 August 2013, the Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei issued a decree appointing Ahmadinejad as a member of theExpediency Council.[222] On 15 June 2015, a number of Ahmadinejad's cabinet ministers established a new political party, calledYEKTA Front. The party published list for2016 legislative election and some of Ahmadinejad's cabinet members (likeHamid-Reza Haji Babaee,Sadeq Khalilian,Mohammad Abbasi andMahmoud Bahmani) registered for the election, but Ahmadinejad did not support any list in the election.[citation needed]
It was rumored that Ahmadinejad would run for president again in2017 after he did not deny plans when questioned by the media in 2015.[223] Ahmadinejad remained mostly out of the public eye after leaving office, but hisanti-Western rhetoric and combative style remained popular among manyIranian Principlists, and he was widely viewed as among the most formidable political figures capable of unseatingHassan Rouhani. In December 2015, it was reported that he had begun his presidential campaign by appointing his campaign's chiefs. He also began provincial travels in April 2016 by traveling toAmol. Travels were continued until September 2016, when he traveled toGorgan.[224] Ahmadinejad's advisors said his travels were not electoral and he only delivered speeches due to public demand.[225] In September 2016, it was rumored that Ahmadinejad had askedAli Khamenei,Supreme Leader of Iran, for permission to run for the office and was rejected by Khamenei, who said that it was not in the best interests of Iran.[226][227] On 26 September 2016, Khamenei confirmed the news, but stated that it was only advice, not an order.[228] It was the first time since Khamenei's election as Supreme Leader in 1989 that he advised a person to not run for election. Formerly, some candidates had asked him for advice (former presidentAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for his campaign in2005 and2013), but Khamenei chose to not give his opinion on those occasions. The following day, Ahmadinejad officially announced he would not run in the upcoming 2017 presidential election.[229] He later supportedHamid Baghaei's candidacy.[230] However, Ahmadinejad registered as presidential candidate on 12 April 2017.[36] He was disqualified by the Guardian Council on 20 April 2017, making him the second person afterAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to be barred from running for a third presidential term.[231]
On 2 March 2022, Ahmadinejad expressed his support for Ukraine and thePresident of UkraineVolodymyr Zelenskyy during the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. OnTwitter, he stated that Iran stands with Ukraine and expressed his admiration of the Ukrainian resistance while claiming that "the resistance uncovered the Satanic plots of enemies of mankind." He also warned thePresident of RussiaVladimir Putin that if he failed to stop the invasion, he would have "no achievement" to show for it, only remorse. Ahmadinejad's views on the Russian invasion are in stark contrast to the official pro-Russian stance of theGovernment of Iran, which blamedNATO and theUnited States for instigating the war.[233][234][235]
On 2 June, Ahmadinejad expressed interest in running in the election and applied to be considered as a candidate.[236] However, he was disqualified from running on 9 June.[41]
Since 2005, Ahmadinejad has introduced himself as non-partisan, even anti-party and did not try to gain support of political parties despite being supported by theconservative camp.[citation needed] ANational Democratic Institute report published in 2009 states that Ahmadinejad is a self-described "principlist".[243]
Ahmadinejad is known for hisvulgarism, undiplomatic language and usage ofslang terms.[250] He is active onTwitter, where he engages his followers primarily in English and tweets about sports, the United States, and current events.[251][252]
According to a poll conducted by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) in March 2016, Ahmadinejad was the least popular political figure in Iran. He had 57% approval and 39% disapproval ratings, thus a +18% net popularity.[253]
Supporters of Ahmadinejad consider him a simple man who leads a modest life.[258] As president, he wanted to continue living in the same house in Tehran his family had been living in until his security advisers insisted that he should move. Ahmadinejad had the antique Persian carpets in the Presidential palace sent to a carpet museum, and opted instead to use inexpensive carpets. He is said to have refused the VIP seat on the presidential plane, and that he eventually replaced it with a cargo plane instead.[49][259] Upon gaining Iran's presidency, Ahmadinejad held his first cabinet meeting in theImam Reza shrine at Mashhad, an act perceived as "pious".[260] He also used to lay an extra place for the12th Imam at his weekly cabinet briefings.[261]
^abEhteshami, Anoushiravan; Zweiri, Mahjoob (2007),Iran and the Rise of Its Neoconservatives: The Politics of Tehran's Silent Revolution, I.B.Tauris, p. 55,ISBN978-0857713674
^Afshon Ostovar (2016).Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Oxford University Press. p. 124.ISBN978-0190491703.
^Avideh Mayville, "The Religious Ideology of Reform in Iran" inJ. Harold Ellens (ed.),Winning Revolutions: The Psychosocial Dynamics of Revolts for Freedom, Fairness, and Rights [3 volumes], ABC-CLIO (2013), p. 311
^Landry, Carole (25 June 2009)."G8 calls on Iran to halt election violence".AFP. Archived fromthe original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved18 June 2011.The West has expressed alarm over Tehran's crackdown ... The Group of Eight leading powers on Friday deplored post-election violence in Iran ... Divergences appeared when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that isolating Iran was the "wrong approach" ...
^abErdbrink, Thomas (3 April 2013)."Power Struggle Is Gripping Iran Ahead of June Election".New York Times. Retrieved4 April 2013.It is all part of a power struggle ahead of the June election between Mr. Ahmadinejad's faction and a coalition of traditionalists, including many Revolutionary Guards commanders and hard-line clerics.
^Enteshami, Anoushiravan; Zweiri, Mahjoob (2007).Iran and the rise of Neoconservatives, the politics of Tehran's silent Revolution. I. B. Tauris. p. 53.
^Aneja, Atul (2006). He was also known as tir khalas zan before becoming president."New Dynamics". Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved5 February 2010. Frontline. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
^"President Calls Zionist Main Terrorist Hub in World". Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved26 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Access date 30 July 2016. Both this link and the corresponding Farsi page have been removed from the official web site of the Iranian President. The Farsi original has not been re-discovered.
Rosenberg, Joel C. (2006).Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. p. 109.ISBN9781414311357.He was defeated by the even more hard-line and anti-Semitic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ...
^"Iranian leader 'not anti-Semite'". BBC. 21 September 2006. Retrieved8 April 2007.'Some people think if they accuse me of being anti-Jew they can solve the problem. No, I am not anti-Jew. I respect them very much.'
^At the time, Revolutionary Guards rejected official ranks for its members and commanders were simply referred to with honorifics such as "brother" or "pasdar" (guard).[9]
^abThe -[e] is theezafe, which is a grammatical marker linking two words together. It is not indicated in writing, and is not part of the name itself, but is pronounced in Persian language when a first and last name are used together.
^Kasra Naji says that the name was 'Sabaghian,' which means 'dye-masters' inPersian.[44]
^In 2009, some media reports claimed that Sabourjian is a common Iranian Jewish name, and thatSabor is the name for the Jewishtallit (prayer shawl) in Persia.[45]Meir Javedanfar, a blogger atThe Guardian, disputed this claim, citing experts.[46]
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