Iran state TV: Tehran gets new mayor after ‘no-retirees’ law

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s state TV says the Tehran city council has elected a new mayor after a law adopted in September banned retirees from being employed in government positions.

The report says 54-year-old Pirouz Hanachi was chosen for the post. He is an architecture professor at the Fine Arts Faculty of the Tehran University who also served as the deputy mayor for urban development.

Hanachi replaces Mohammad Ali Afshani, who had stepped out of retirement to take the job in April, after Mohammad Ali Najafi resigned over a scandal in which hard-liners criticized him for attending a performance at a primary school that included girls dancing on stage before the audience.

Hanachi’s selection still has to be approved by the Interior Ministry within a period of 10 days.