Less than two months into his presidency, Donald Trump has already outperformed his Iranian rival in demagoguery, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, making him look like a novice. No wonder the two-term president thinks he has some catching-up to do.

Iran's Ahmadinejad joins Twitter despite ban Read more

He published an 11-second-long video on Twitter on Sunday, urging people to follow his newly opened account, and leaving no doubt that the “husband, dad, grandfather, university professor, president, mayor, proud Iranian” behind @Ahmadinejad1956 is authentic. Had he not offered proof, it would have been almost impossible to tell it from the many parody accounts under his name.

His use of English in that video, albeit quite basic and disjointed, suggests that this will be a platform to project his views to the outside world. Surely it’s only a matter of days before we see him mention @realDonaldTrump, potentially sparking a clash of two of the world’s most famous rabble rousers.

But perhaps they will get on. There are, after all, many similarities between the two men. They were both anti-establishment candidates. When Ahmadinejad ran for his first term, in 2005, he was seen as “a man of the people” and someone not corrupted, like the elite. Both men rely heavily on an inner circle of trusted advisers. While Trump has Steve Bannon, Ahmadinejad had Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, his closest aide and a hugely controversial figure. Both seem invincible in interviews and have an extraordinary ability to lure the media.

Ahmadinejad has, in fact, already reached out to the US president. A week before joining Twitter, the very platform that he banned while in office, he resorted to his old habit of letter-writing to offer the new US president advice on governance and even women’s rights.

“Hello there,” he says, greeting the US president with 3,400-plus words in a gesture that is not meant to be political, he says, but from “a human to another human”.

The best bit is his advice on women. “Women depict God’s beauty and are God’s most beautiful and valuable gift. Respecting women and dignifying them is a sign of magnanimity,” he writes, before signing the letter “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the service of the Iranian people”. Could this be a mischievous reference to the intended recipient’s notorious “Grab them by the pussy” comments?

The letter remains unanswered, which probably explains why Ahmadinejad is belatedly trying his luck with Twitter. His first days on the social network offer us some clues as to his positioning: he is following no one, not even the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, whose office tweets @khamenei_ir. Khamenei’s account follows six others; five of which are his other accounts in different languages, plus an account associated with the late founder of the 1979 Iranian revolution Ruhollah Khomeini, presumably run by Khamenei’s office as well. Other Iranian politicians on Twitter, including President Hassan Rouhani and the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif (who is the most Twitter-savvy Iranian official) all dutifully follow their leader.

Iranian officialdom appears to be coming to the conclusion that the existing ban on Twitter is one that ultimately disadvantages them, both internally and externally. Regional rivals such as Saudi Arabia have exploited the ban to outmanoeuvre Iran in the court of public opinion.

The banner picture at the top of Ahmadinejad’s Twitter page is of Mount Damavand, the country’s highest peak. Having been sidelined since he left office in 2013, it looks like he’s trying to reinvent himself by focusing on Iranian nationalism. Recent pictures of him posted on Instagram also show him next to the tomb of Cyrus the Great and Persepolis, relics of Iran’s pre-Islamic history. If Trump won by stoking fear about immigrants and refugees, it is becoming clear that Ahmadinejad would focus on patriotic populism if he ever gets another chance to run as president.

In fact, Iran’s next presidential election is looming, scheduled for May. But Ahmadinejad has already been told by the supreme leader that it would be better for him not to run. In effect, this blocks his candidacy. You wouldn’t know it – he has been acting as if he is running. Ultimately, it’s hard, however, to see him defying Khamenei’s decision.

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Ahmadinejad’s Twitter handle also includes his birth year. That reminds us that Ahmadinejad is relatively young and may have his eyes on the post-Khamenei era. Ahmadinejad’s public confrontation with Khamenei in the final years of his presidency has for now put his chances of another presidential run in doubt, so long as the ayatollah is alive. But Ahmadinejad is clever and sees the benefit in Khamenei’s blocking of him. He knows well enough that those marginalised by Khamenei, in several cases, have seen their credibility in the eyes of the public only increase.

In the years following Ahmadinejad’s first election victory in 2005, large numbers of Iranians came to regret their choice. Iranians’ experiences with Ahmadinejad offer some useful lessons for Americans. It takes time for a demagogue such as Trump to show his real face, but the legacy they leave behind can be devastating. The moderate Rouhani spent four years just getting the country back to square one. Given Trump’s support in Congress, for America, it could be a lot longer.