He imposed new cultural restrictions favored by the mullahs, or Islamic religious leaders, who really held the reins of power in Iran, shutting down Western fast-food restaurants and ordering the covering of billboard advertisements featuring English soccer star David Beckham. But as significant as his actual policies was the bond Ahmadinejad formed with Tehran's deeply religious working class.
At one point he donned a street sweeper's uniform to earn the support of city workers, and he shunned limousine transportation in favor of a Peugeot automobile he had owned for many years. Ahmadinejad's own working class speech patterns were ridiculed by Tehran's political elite, but ordinary Iranians saw him as a rather spiritual figure untouched by the political corruption that was dragging down the country's economy despite its vast reserves of oil.
The suave interview subject, who later became known to American audiences with his appearance on the 60 Minutes television program, made an impression on Iranians as well. This plays fantastically in Iran.
In Ahmadinejad, still not a familiar name internationally, entered the race for president of Iran. Contrary to the predictions of observers, he snared one of two spots in the June runoff against the moderate, well-established, and personally wealthy Islamic cleric Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Ahmadinejad employed displays of personal piety, visiting a shrine in the town of Jamarkan, where many Iranians believed that the Mahdi, a religious leader from early in the history of Islam's Shiite branch, would miraculously reappear. He combined this pious message with promises of new social programs, and on June 24 he won a convincing victory over Rafsanjani in the runoff, winning 17,, votes to Rafsanjani's 9,, Western governments, and even Shiite religious leaders in neighboring Iraq, had little idea of who he was.
They soon found out a great deal more. Ahmadinejad followed through on campaign pledges to increase social spending and, confounding predictions that he would impose Islamic dress codes on Iranian women, he actually liberalized regulations pertaining to women's attendance at sporting events.
But what gained attention in the West was Ahmadinejad's confrontational foreign policy stance. Alarmed by a litany of anti-Israeli rhetoric in Ahmadinejad's public speeches, U. Bush demanded that Iran halt its civilian nuclear power program, which was widely viewed in the West as a possible prelude to the acquisition of nuclear weapons. Through and , Iran resisted United Nations attempts—supported even by Russia and China—to slow its nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad steadfastly denied that the research had military aims, telling Weymouth that "our religion prohibits us from having nuclear arms. As some in Israel and in the U. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice. Oxford Reference. Publications Pages Publications Pages.
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Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? In the presidential election of , 39,, ballots were cast on 12th June, according to Iran's election headquarters. Ahmadinejad won 24,, votes, In second place, Mir Hossein Mousavi won 13,, The election drew unprecedented public interest in Iran. The election results remain in dispute as Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters who believe that electoral fraud occurred during the election.
Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August History of Iran. Read More. Father: Ahmad Saborjhian, a blacksmith. Ahmadinejad's father changed the family name from Saborjhian to Ahmadinejad after the family moved to Tehran. Mother : Seiyed Khano.
Marriage: Azam Farahi. Children : Two sons and a daughter. D, in transportation engineering. Other Facts. He is a member of the Abadgaran party and is considered ultra-conservative. Several of the 52 Americans held hostage during the Islamic Revolution claim Ahmadinejad was one of their captors. Former hostage takers in this incident, who are now political opponents of Ahmadinejad, deny he was involved.
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