or Mu 1E25; ammad Kh 0101; tam 012B;
born Sept. 29, 1943, Ardak 0101; n, Iran
President of Iran (from 1997).
After studying at a traditional madrasah in the holy city of Qom, he began political activities while studying philosophy at E 1E63; fah 0101; n University. He headed an Islamic centre in Germany during the Iranian revolution (1979) and returned home to seek election to the Majles (parliament) in 1980. He served in government posts during the Iran-Iraq War (198090) and as cultural adviser to Pres. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and as head of the National Library (199297) before winning the presidency on a platform of social and economic reform. He was reelected by an overwhelming margin in 2001.