TEHRAN — Tehran city councilors elected Mohammad Ali Afshani as mayor on Sunday.

Afshani, the former governor general of Fars province and the deputy interior minister for development affairs, was elected by securing 19 out of 21 votes, Mehr news agency reported. 

Afshani and Samiollah Makarem Hosseini, who served as the caretaker for Tehran Municipality for less than two months, made the shortlist of the candidates.

Mohammad Ali Najafi, was sworn in as mayor on September 5, 2017. His predecessor was Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who held the post for some 12 years. 

Since the very beginning of his career Najafi faced a barrage of criticism mainly related to urban management issues including air pollution, the traffic scheme, Tehran earthquake, heavy snowfall. And finally after six months, he handed in his resignation on March 14.

Despite all the efforts to convince Najafi to keep his post as mayor of Tehran, eventually the Tehran City Council accepted his resignation on April 10.

Najafi said that the main reason behind his decision was his newly diagnosed disease.

MQ/MG