Iran’s Ahmadinejad launches website ahead of elections
Hardline former president signals potential comeback to politics with new online presence
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched a website ahead of parliamentary elections next year in a sign he may be considering a political comeback despite a recent corruption scandal.
The website, ahmadinejad.ir, was launched Sunday with a big smiling photo of Ahmadinejad and the slogan: “We will come soon.”
Ahmadinejad effectively disappeared from Iran’s political landscape after his second term ended in 2013. The hard-line leader’s eight-year rule was marked by hostility toward the West and inflammatory rhetoric calling for the destruction of Israel and casting doubt on the Holocaust.
His reputation — even among hard-liners — took a hit earlier this month after his former senior vice president was sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to pay a $300,000 fine for corruption.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.