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.