On March 14, Iranians woke up to a surprising piece of news: Tehran’s mayor, prominent Reformist Mohammad Ali Najafi, who was only chosen as mayor in August, had submitted his resignation to the city council.
Explaining the reason for what had occurred, Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the chairman of Tehran’s Reformist-dominated city council, said at a press conference on March 14 that Najafi’s resignation will be studied in the first session of the city council in the coming Iranian year (beginning March 21) and that he must remain as mayor until then.