News of Ahmadinejad’s assassination spread, including by the Iranian media like the reformist daily Shargh. That created a great deal of confusion. Why would the Israelis or Americans, the former more likely, assassinate him?Ahmadinejad did not count for anything at that point. If anything, he was a disgruntled man, arguing with the current regime and generally being a thorn in their side. He had been sending out petitions on public grievances for a long time and creating a nuisance. He also wanted to contest elections again.After all, he’s just about 70. He was, however, rejected three times by the Guardian Council of the Clergy which has the final say on who gets to contest because they were apparently not happy with his performance.N for Mahmoud: There are good reasons to use the expression ‘infamous’. Ahmadinejad is the one who sort of turbocharged the Iranian nuclear programme, being really committed to—almost obsessed with—nuclear weapons.He also talked about destroying Israel, and was a known Holocaust denier. Among the Iranians, other people have also taken ambivalent positions on the Holocaust. When I interviewed former Speaker of Iran’s Parliament Ali Larijani on Walk the Talk and asked him about the Holocaust, he also sort of went around it, not say that he agreed it had taken place, nor denying that it did.Ali Larijani in conversation with ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta in an episode of Walk The Talk recorded in 2013.