Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (profile)
The new president of Iran, former Tehran mayor, a self-styled "friend of the people"
Tehran (AsiaNews/agencies) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, new president of Iran, was born in 1956 in Garmsar, near Tehran. He holds a Phd in traffics and transport from the faculty of science and technology of the University of Tehran, where he served as lecturer.
He was elected mayor of Tehran in spring of 2003, when he was practically an unknown. After two years as first citizen of the Iranian capital, he contested the presidential elections. According to political analysts, he did not spend money on his electoral campaign, but he was supported by influential conservative groups who used their "network" of mosques for propaganda.
As Tehran mayor, he adjusted several reforms adopted by moderates who governed the city before him. Former president and reformer, Mohammed Khatami, had excluded him from cabinet meetings, a privilege normally accorded to the mayor of the capital. As mayor, he shut fast food restaurants and required male city employees to grow beards and wear garments with long sleeves. He demolished a publicity campaign in which the English footballer, David Beckham the most famous western personality promoted a product.
He has a populist streak he called his website "Mardomyar", friend of the people and he also said that "the country's true problems are the employment and housing situations, not how people dress". As regards economy, he holds that "at the moment, private banks do not play a positive and constructive role; on the contrary they have a destructive function."
He is known for his simple lifestyle and for his anti-corruption campaign. "I will cut the hands of mafia-style power and of factions which hold our oil in their grasp, I dedicate my life to this people must have part of what is theirs in daily life from the sale of oil."
In international politics, he is cautious about re-establishing formal links with the USA, broken in 1979. "America's unilateral decision to break off ties with the Islamic Republic aimed to destroy the Islamic revolution," he said. "America was free to sever its ties with Iran, but it remains Iran's decision to re-establish relations with America." He added that "relations with the United States are not the cure for our ills".
He defends his country's nuclear program, which has worried the US and European Union. "They will not allow us to progress easily but we should not surrender to their will," his website says. "The acquisition of nuclear technology for pacific use is what the entire Iranian nation is asking for and the task of the people's representative is to commit himself with resolve to realize this need," he said. "Iran needs at least three years before it joins the World Trade Organisation. We need time to defend our industry."
He is backed by a group of younger, second-generation revolutionaries known as the Abadgaran, or Developers, who are strong in the Iranian parliament, the Majlis. His website says he joined the Revolutionary Guards voluntarily and that he took part in covert operations in Iraq during the war.
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