Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is described as an Iranian conservative by Milani and McFaul of the Hoover Institution.  During his time in power, Ahmadinejad dealt massive damage to an already struggling Iranian economy by infusing it with excess funds and by nearly crashing the stock market by linking speculative trading to gambling, something that is very much illegal in Iran.

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Ahmadinejad was a close ally of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; as such, he received his support which was essential for him to win the election in 2005, something which surprised many as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was his challenger. Their relationship has since deteriorated as he was advised not to run for president in 2017 (when he was eligible to hold the post again) and was rejected by the Guardian Council (the group that approves candidates)  to run in both 2017 and 2021.