Former Police Chief Named Tehran Mayor

Bahrain Tribune:

Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf was appointed yesterday as the capital’s new mayor, the job previously held by election winner Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad.

Qalibaf, 43, a former national police chief and Revolutionary Guards veteran, had run an expensive campaign in which he transformed himself from being a uniformed hardliner to a populist technocrat.

Although once considered a possible favourite for the presidency, he finished a disappointing fourth place out of the seven candidates who stood in the first round of the elections after Nejad secured the core hardline vote.