Biography: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

•    August 3, 2005 - present: President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
•    June 20, 2003 - August 3, 2005: Mayor of Tehran
•    1997: Graduate of Iran University of Science and Technology, Civil Engineer, PhD in civil engineering and traffic transportation planning
•    Born October 28, 1956, Garmsar, Iran
•    Born Mahmoud Saborjhian, changed name to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 1950s
•    Married to Parvin Ahmadinejad, two sons Mahdi and Alireza

Since becoming president, Ahmadinejad has taken a hardline stance on a number of foreign policy issues.
His comments that Israel should be “wiped off the map” and that the Holocaust was a “myth” drew widespread condemnation from the West.
Once in power, he gave a defiant speech at the UN on the nuclear issue and has refused to back down on the country’s controversial nuclear program. He has defied UN sanctions over uranium enrichment, saying the country needs civilian nuclear power.
Ahmadinejad has maintained a confrontational line with the U.S., with which diplomatic ties were broken in 1979.
At home, he banned Western and “indecent” music from state-run TV and radio stations in December 2005.
Ahmadinejad maintains a populist streak, calling his personal website Mardomyar, or the People’s Friend.