What is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Net Worth?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an Iranian nationalist politician who has a net worth of $5 million. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad served as the president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. During his presidency, he was notorious for nuclearizing Iran, stoking hostilities with various countries, and abusing human rights, among other controversial actions. Ahmadinejad later made attempts to run for a third presidential term in both 2017 and 2021, but was rejected by the Guardian Council both times.
Early Life and Education
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born as Mahmoud Sabbaghian on October 28, 1956 in Aradan, Semnan province, in the Imperial State of Iran. His mother was Khanom, and his father was Ahmad, a grocer and barber. He has a brother named Davoud and a sister named Parvin. When he was a year old, he moved with his family to Tehran; a few years later, the family's name was changed to Ahmadinejad. In 1976, Ahmadinejad took Iran's national university examination, and subsequently enrolled in the Iran University of Science and Technology. There, he studied civil engineering. Ahmadinejad would later return to the school to earn his PhD in 1997.
Career Beginnings
In the 1980s, Ahmadinejad held various administrative positions in the province of West Azerbaijan, Iran. He also became a member of the Office for Strengthening Unity, an Iranian student organization designed to prevent students from allying with the burgeoning militant Mojahedin-e Khalq dissident group. From 1986 to 1988, Ahmadinejad served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. After that, he became a lecturer at his alma mater, the Iran University of Science and Technology. Later, during his doctoral studies at the school in the early 1990s, Ahmadinejad was appointed governor of the newly formed Ardabil Province. He remained in that position until 1997, when all of Iran's provincial governors were replaced following the election of President Mohammad Khatami. Ahmadinejad subsequently returned to teaching at his alma mater.
Mayor of Tehran
In 2003, Ahmadinejad was elected the mayor of Tehran by the City Council of Tehran. During his two-year tenure, he reversed many reforms that had been made by prior moderate and reformist mayors. Ahmadinejad put an emphasis on conservative religious activities, charity, and the separation of the sexes in municipality offices.
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President of Iran
Supported by the conservative political federation the Alliance of Builders, of which he was the main leader, Ahmadinejad ran for the Iranian presidency in 2005. He ultimately won, taking 62% of the vote in a runoff poll against Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. During his first presidential term, Ahmadinejad was highly controversial for both his domestic and international policies. When it came to the economy, his government had the highest budget deficit since the Iranian revolution. Additionally, Ahmadinejad was notorious for ending Iran's existing birth-control policies, promoting the country's nuclearization, making various antisemitic and homophobic comments, and abusing human rights in various ways, such as by having political dissidents detained and tortured. Outside of Iran, he was roundly criticized for his hostility toward several other countries, including Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other Western and Arab nations.
In 2009, Ahmadinejad won reelection under disputed terms, sparking protests. His second presidential term was as controversial as his first, marked by accusations of corruption, continued human rights abuses, and a major power struggle within the parliament between him and reformers. A serious conflict arose when Ahmadinejad dismissed intelligence minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i and advocated for the candidacy of his controversial adviser Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. As a result, in 2012, Ahmadinejad became the first president of Iran to be summoned by the parliament to answer questions pertaining to his presidency. In the subsequent parliamentary elections, he suffered a defeat as Ayatollah Khamenei's allies won around three-quarters of the parliament seats. Ahmadinejad was succeeded as president in 2013 by Hassan Rouhani.
Later Attempts at the Presidency
In the spring of 2017, Ahmadinejad announced his intention to run for a third presidential term; his nomination was ultimately rejected by the Guardian Council. He made another attempt at registering to run for the 2021 presidential election, but was again rejected by the Guardian Council.
Personal Life
Ahmadinejad married his wife, teacher Azam al-Sadat Farahi, in 1980. Together, they have a daughter and two sons.
