New mayor of Tehran appointed
Tehran's city council appointed Pirooz Hanachi as the new mayor of the Iranian capital city.
Winning 11 votes on Tuesday election out of 21, Hanachi is the third mayor appointed by the current Islamic City Council of Tehran, and the 18th after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Hanachi's predecessors were Mohammad-Ali Afshani and Mohammad-Ali Najafi.
Abbas Akhoundi, former minister of roads and urban development, who gained 10 votes, was the other candidate at the mayoral race.
The appointed mayor of Tehran, 54, was the deputy mayor for technical and construction affairs under Najafi's office. Then he was moved to the urban development and architecture department of Tehran's Municipality.
A graduate of University of Tehran, the new mayor had also been in senior positions at Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
Hanachi should obtain the ratification of Iran's Interior Ministry to officially take the post.
Former mayor of Tehran Mohammd Ali Afshani had to leave his post due to a new law recently passed by the Iranian Majlis (Parliament), according to which all the government retirees are forbidden from taking on new state responsibilities.
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