Sneak Preview BBC Persian screening: Ahmadinejad – The Populist and the Pariah

Since his election in 2005, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has become the most well-known Iranian since the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini.  He’s challenged his country’s Supreme Leader and goaded the United States, earning him both admiration and loathing. He cannot run for re-election in June 2013 but he’s seeking to continue his influence by backing a candidate whose outspoken comments defy the conservatives who have dominated Iran since the 1979 Revolution.

Produced by the BBC Persian Service, this documentary looks at the rise of Ahmadinejad and explains how this provincial politician with a PhD in traffic management became a personality to be reckoned with.

Followed by a panel discussion with:

Sadeq Saba, head of BBC Persian.

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, filmmaker and journalist. His previous documentary for BBC Persian was The Ayatollah’s Seal, about the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Kasra Naji, special correspondent for BBC Persian TV and author of Ahmedinejad: the Secret History of Iran’s Radical Leader.

The screening is organised by BBC Persian Service