Vilified abroad for his blistering attacks against the West, blamed at home for IranÂ’s economic woes and isolated from the supreme leader who groomed him for power, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leaves the presidency with few friends and an uncertain future.Iranians elected his opposite - a mild-mannered, moderate member of the clerical establishment - to replace him, doubtless hoping for better times than they endured for eight years under the caustic hardline outsider.
| His successor is just as committed to exterminating the Joooz; he's just more quiet about it... |
But those hoping for a rapid improvement in the quality of life, swift rapprochement with the West or more transparency in the way Iran is ruled may soon find that its problems go deeper than the small man with the scruffy beard and ill-fitting suits.
Since his shock election victory in 2005, Ahmadinejad rose from near total obscurity to become the most visible actor on the Iranian stage, on the way pulling through a disputed re-election victory that rocked the nation to its core.
His final speech as president on Friday was vintage Ahmadinejad: “I swear to God that a ferocious storm is coming and it will uproot the Zionist entity,” he declared on Quds Day, an annual event devoted to opposing Israeli rule over Jerusalem.
Mocked by progressive Iranians, he created a cult following among traditionalists and the working classes through his charisma, simple lifestyle and populist beliefs.
His name gives three times as many results in a Google search as that of his former sponsor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, IranÂ’s most powerful man.
But history, whether written at home or abroad, is unlikely to be kind. Within hours of the election victory of moderate cleric Hassan Rohani, thousands of people gathered outside Rohani’s headquarters and across the city to celebrate, shouting out “Ahmadi bye bye”.
“He is unlikely to exit the political scene gracefully, for grace has hardly been a hallmark of his eight years in office and is unlikely to be an adjective applied to the good doctor in the future,” said New York-based Iranian-American author Hooman Majd who has met Ahmadinejad on several occasions.
On the international stage, he has shocked the Western world with his rhetoric, often during his annual appearances at the United Nations General Assembly, which have caused mass walkouts and public demonstrations.
Relishing the opportunity to discomfit Iran’s detractors, he has alleged the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks, denied homosexuality exists in Iran and lambasted Western leaders for being played by “deceitful Zionists”.
“The president’s irresponsible rhetoric on Israel, the Holocaust and other issues has deepened Iran’s international isolation,” said Shaul Bakhash, professor of history at George Mason University in Virginia.
Ahmadinejad was groomed by Khamenei to take on the reformist movement - those advocating more social and political freedoms. His devout religious views, his common touch, his accessibility to young Iranians and connections to the military were assets.
His fans glorified him as a humble servant who shunned the trappings of power. Ahmadinejad, so the story goes, refused the presidential salary and went to work with a packed lunch.
“He wants to leave a legacy where he was the guy breaking the stranglehold of the mullahs,” said Majd. “He believes an elected president should be allowed to govern. That’s quite a popular sentiment among Iranians.”
But ultimately he overplayed the hand his mandate gave him, leading to a direct confrontation with Khamenei. The feud erupted in 2011 when Ahmadinejad sacked the intelligence minister but the supreme leader reinstated him.
Khamenei loyalists accused Ahmadinejad and his advisors of seeking to erode clerical authority - activity denounced as a “deviant current”. He was frozen out of decision-making and threatened with impeachment. In March last year he became the first president in the history of the Islamic Republic to be summoned by parliament for a grilling on his policies.
High oil prices meant that Iran enjoyed record revenues during AhmadinejadÂ’s two terms. But the economy nevertheless faltered because of mismanagement, and ultimately crumbled under embargoes imposed in 2012 by the United States and European Union, which cut oil exports in half.
Dependent on oil to earn hard currency, Iran saw the rial fall and inflation soar, to 35 per cent according to official figures, by some estimates double that.
“Ahmadinejad’s erratic stewardship has left the Iranian economy in a shambles. His courage in taking the bull of subsidies by the horns will be lauded, while its poor implementation will be deplored,” said Yasmin Alem, of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center.
AhmadinejadÂ’s reformist predecessor Mohamed Khatami had suspended uranium enrichment, a chemical process that can be used to make material for an atomic bomb.
Iran restarted enrichment within weeks of Ahmadinejad taking office in 2005, and has since maintained a “no compromise” stance.