Understanding Ahmadinejad

This is Part I in a series entitled The Israeli-Iranian Conflict.

Part I: Understanding Ahmadinejad

Undoubtedly one of the most prominent, and polarizing, figures on the international political scene is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. For someone garnering so much attention in terms of international security, it's surprising how little people know about him and his beliefs.

The first thing to know, and something that will come up again, is that Ahmadinejad comes from a very religious family. His last name was originally Saborjhian until his father officially changed it to Ahmadinejad, which means "virtuous race" or "Muhammad's race," (Hitchcock, 24). While at the University of Sciences and Technology, (where he ultimately would receive his Ph.D in traffic management), he became involved with the student political movement following Ayatollah Khomenei. He was an active participant in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 where Khomenei came to power after overthrowing the Shah and establishing the world's first theocracy. The country would from then on be officially recognized as the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mahmoud would become Mayor of Tehran in 2003 and he earned himself the nickname of "The Little Streetsweeper."

In the 2005 Presidential race, Ahmadinejad took an interesting approach to his campaign. With little name recognition throughout the country, Ahmadinejad was seen as a non-factor candidate and Hashemi Rafsanjani was the clear front-runner. Going into the election virtually absent from pre-polling, somehow Ahmadenijad managed to garner enough votes to force a runoff election between him and Rafsanjani. In the runoff, Ahmadinejad won handidly, receving 17 million out of 27.5 million total votes, (Hitchcock, 22). Now, although no official investigation was installed, it is important to understand that Ahmadinejad had the backing of Ayatollah Khamenei, successor to Ayatollah Khomenei.

 It is an understood fact that the Ayatollahs are actually the controlling bodies in Iranian Government and that the President is generally a puppet. However, Ahmadinejad has become something of a symbol for fundamentalism in the Middle East. Not that he is entirely irreplacable, (the Ayatollah was outwardly critical of some of Ahmadinejad's nuclear rhetoric), but he fits nicely into Khamanei's ultimate plan, which will be discussed at a later time.

Ahmadinejad is a follower of a sect of Shiite Islam called Twelver Shiism. While Twelvism will be discussed in detail in Part II of this series, it is important to know that it is the religion of those in control of Iranian government. There are two main sects of Islam, Sunnis and Shiites, and each sect has it's own separate sects. The three main sects of Shiism are based on the number of Imams that were believed to have followed Muhammad. Twelvers represent the majority view in Iran. Ahmadinejad is considered a fundamentalist in the sense that he actively seeks to implement his religious views upon others and into his government policies. (Yes, building nuclear weapons does fit with his beliefs).

Although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejd has done and said a number of noteworthy things, perhaps none is more important than when he threatened Israel by saying he wanted to see it "wiped off the map," (The Economist, 2007). This was really the beginning of the current state of the Israeli-Iranian crisis, which in my opinion is currently the most pressing international issue. He has gone further by saying he foresees a world without the Great Satan and Little Satan, (the U.S and Israel, respectively), and ends of his U.N addresses with a prayer to hasten the coming of the Mahdi, (to be explained later).

There is a lot more that can be said about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but I just wanted to provide a brief introduction  to the man so that the next topic of eschatology can be understood easier.

Things we have learned:
1. The Iranian President is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
2. Ahmadinejad is a very religious man.
3. Iran is actually controlled by Ayatollah Khamanei, who handpicked Ahmadinejad.
4. Ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe Israel off the map.

Next Time: The Eschatology of Ahmadinejad 

Works Cited
Hitchcock, Mark. The Apocalypse of Ahmadinejad. Multnomah Books, 2007.
“Next Stop Iran?” The Economist. 10 February, 2007