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Iran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 23 November 2009. Photo by José Cruz (Agência Brasil / CC BY-SA 3.0 License)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( born 28 October 1956) is the sixth President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. An engineer and teacher from a poor background, Ahmadinejad joined the Office for Strengthening Unity after the Islamic Revolution. Appointed a provincial governor, he was removed after the election of President Mohammad Khatami and returned to teaching. Tehran's council elected him mayor in 2003. He took a religious hard-line, reversing reforms of previous moderate mayors. His 2005 presidential campaign, supported by the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, garnered 62% of the runoff election votes, and he became President on 3 August 2005.