In choosing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian voters elevated a blacksmith’s son who has made more of his modest background and frugal ways than his revolutionary credentials or political experience.Ahmadinejad is a new face even to most Iranians. He was appointed governor of Ardabil, a province in the northwest, from 1993 through 1997. In 2003, the country’s ruling Ayatollahs appointed him mayor of Tehran. In just a few years, he has risen from governor of a backwater province to mayor of Iran’s premier city to the presidency, his way cleared by support from conservative clerical leaders. ‘‘He was not a prominent political figure until two months ago,’’ said Alireza Akbari, a former defence minister and senior official with the Revolutionary Guards. ‘‘We heard about his background after he became mayor of Tehran.’’According to the biography posted on his website mardomyar.com, he holds a doctorate in civil engineering and is a teacher at the University of Science and Industry in Tehran. He volunteered for military service during Iran’s war with Iraq, and rose to the Revolutionary Guards. Later, he was also active in the Basij religious militia, known for policing conservative dress codes for women.‘‘People think a return to revolutionary values is only a matter of wearing the head scarf,’’ Reuters quoted him as saying. ‘‘The country’s true problem is employment and housing, not what to wear.’’He has, however, shown a sense of humour rare for an Iranian politician. He caused a sensation, laughing heartily when a reporter told him a joke making the rounds that he would change the name of the Iranian car, Samand, meaning horse, into Zol-Jalal, the name of the horse of Imam Hussein, one of Prophet Muhammad’s successors in the Shiite tradition. — New York Times
