Why is Ahmadinejad Running for President of Iran, Again?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the firebrand former Iranian president, stunned observers last week by submitting his name as a candidate in his country’s presidential elections next month, over the objections of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad, who served as president from 2005 to 2013, is a hardliner, notorious for questioning the extent of the Holocaust, making bellicose statements about Israel, and accelerating his nation’s efforts to achieve nuclear weapons capability.