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The man the West loves to hate
April 25, 2008
Ahmadinejad's unlikely journey along the road to Iran's presidency reads like a movie script: he was born the son of a blacksmith, outside the country's rigid network of business and political elites. As a young man, he displayed academic excellence, earning his doctorate in engineering, becoming a lecturer at the Iran University of Science and Technology, and entering politics as a governor in Iran's West Azerbaijan province.
His big break came when the City Council of Tehran appointed him mayor of Iran's capital city in 2003. After serving in this capacity for two years, and still a relative unknown, he shocked the world by catapulting to the country's highest elected office in June 2005, riding a wave of rural and lower-class support, after he promised to overhaul the distribution of the country's growing oil revenue. His conservative, nationalist rhetoric also struck chords with Iran's top military and religious elite, who were eager to usher in a new era following the moderate administration of Ahmadinejad's processor, Mohammad Khatai. Ahmadinejad rewarded their support with sweeping domestic changes upon entering office, including the banning of Western music, and later, many popular Internet sites, including Youtube and Wikipedia.
But internationally, Ahmadinejad was quickly vilified, largely for rekindling Iran's strongly opposed nuclear programme and for his hostility towards Israel.
Image: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (centre) during a visit the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities earlier this month. Ahmadinejad announced on Iranian state television during the visit that Iran has begun the installation of some 6,000 new centrifuges, adding to to the 3,000 centrifuges already at the facility, some 320 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran.
Photograph: Getty Images
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