Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

I was born in Garmsar, near Tehran, in 1956, the son of a blacksmith, and I hold a PhD in traffic and transport from Tehran's University of Science and Technology, where I was also a lecturer.There has been confusion about my role in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Several of the 52 Americans who were held hostage in the US embassy in the months after the revolution say they are certain I was among those who captured them, but I insist I was not there, and several known hostage-takers - now my strong political opponents - deny I was with them.I joined the Revolutionary Guards voluntarily after the revolution, and I also served in covert operations during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.When I became mayor of Tehran, I curtailed many of the reforms put in place by the moderates who had run the city before me.I maintain a populist streak, and call my personal website Mardomyar, or the People's Friend.I also have a reputation for living a simple life and campaigned against corruption.http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/