Mayor of Tehran in the context of Pirouz Hanachi

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (né Sabbaghian; 28 October 1956) is an Iranian politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. Ideologically a principlist and nationalist, he is currently a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and a strong supporter of Iran's nuclear programme. He was also the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country, and served as mayor of Tehran from 2003 to 2005, reversing many of his predecessor's reforms.

An engineer and teacher from a poor background, he was ideologically shaped by thinkers such as Navvab Safavi, Jalal Al-e-Ahmad, and Ahmad Fardid. After the Iranian Revolution, Ahmadinejad joined the Office for Strengthening Unity. Appointed a provincial governor in 1993, he was replaced along with all other provincial governors in 1997 after the election of President Mohammad Khatami and returned to teaching. Tehran's council elected him mayor in 2003. He took a religious hard line, reversing reforms of previous moderate mayors. His 2005 presidential campaign, supported by the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, garnered 62% of the runoff election votes, and he became president on 3 August 2005.

The Islamic City Council of Tehran (Persian: شورای اسلامی شهر تهران) is the directly elected council that presides over the city of Tehran, elects the mayor of Tehran in a mayor–council government system, and budgets of the Municipality of Tehran.

The council is composed of twenty-one members elected on a plurality-at-large voting basis for four-year terms. The chairman and the deputy chairman of the council are chosen by the council at the first regular meeting in odd-numbered years.