Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
·
sixth
president of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2005
Rising from obscurity
·
the son of a
blacksmith
·
born in 1956
in Garmsar, near Tehran
·
appointed
mayor of Tehran in 2003
·
reduced
social freedoms
·
curtailed
many of the reforms introduced by more moderate figures who ran the city before
him
·
his rise to
power and landslide victory in 2005 surprised the international community
Hard-line campaign
·
strong backer
of Iran's nuclear program
·
backed by
powerful conservatives
·
support of
younger, second-generation revolutionaries known as the Abadgaran, or
Developers, who are strong in the Iranian parliament, the Majlis
·
campaign
focused on poverty, social justice and the distribution of wealth
·
repeatedly
defended his country's nuclear program
·
worried the
US and European Union.
·
his
re-election caused worst political unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Confrontational
·
refused to
back down on Tehran's decision to resume uranium conversion
·
its country's
right to civilian nuclear energy and its missile development program
·
insists he
will not use its technology to make a nuclear bomb
'People's friend'
·
often speaks
of women as being at the heart of Iranian society.
·
he talks of
empowering them
·
provide
insurance for housewives and share Iran's oil wealth with poorer families
·
he would not
be confrontational in enforcing women to obey Iran's strict Islamic dress codes
·
has also
allowed women into major sporting events for the first time since 1979
·
maintains a
populist streak
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