Report: Iran prez Ahmadinejad to leave politics when term ends

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A German newspaper is reporting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he will end his political career when his second term ends next year.

Ahmadinejad was quoted on Saturday as saying in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that he plans to return to academia.

He said that, though he might engage in political activity at a university, "I will not found any political party or group."

Ahmadinejad can't run in Iran's June 2013 elections because of term limits. Asked whether, like Russia's Vladimir Putin, he envisions returning to the presidency at a later date, he replied: "No, eight years are enough."

Ahmadinejad last year lost a power struggle with Iran's ruling system, which had helped him rise from Tehran's city hall to the presidency.