Ahmadinejad Vows To Leave Office, Politics In 2013

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has said in an interview with a German newspaper that he plans to leave politics after his second term expires next year.

The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" carried Ahmadinejad's interview in its June 16 edition, in which Ahmadinejad said "two terms in office is enough" and that he had no plans to follow the example of Russian President Vladimir Putin by seeking to return the presidency in the 2017 elections.

Ahmadinejad also said he would not seek to form a political party.

He maintained that he plans to "return to scientific work" at a university, although he held out the possibility that he might engage in political activity there.

With reporting by ITAR-TASS Rus. and AP