Considered a senior Reformist with a rich portfolio of top executive posts, Mohammad Ali Najafi has never been an ordinary politician in the Islamic Republic. During the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the prominent mathematician and MIT graduate moved among the ruling elites, serving in the Cabinets of Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi as well as former Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. More recently, President Hassan Rouhani appointed Najafi as head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.
In 2017, following a monthslong controversy and unprecedented pressure from rival hard-liners, Najafi was named Tehran's mayor by a Reformist-controlled city council. But he resigned seven months later for what he called "health reasons."