Tehran Criminal Court: Mohammad Ali Najafi Confesses to Killing His Wife
According to the head of Tehran’s Criminal Court, Mohammad Ali Najafi, the former mayor of Tehran, turned himself in to police and confessed to killing his wife, Mitra Ostad.
Mohammad Shahrihari, head of Tehran’s Criminal Affairs Court, stated: “Mohammad Ali Najafi confessed to killing his wife and said he killed her due to family disputes.”
Iranian news agencies reported on Tuesday afternoon, the 7th of Khordad (May 28), that Mitra Ostad, Mohammad Ali Najafi’s second wife, was killed in her apartment in the Saadatabad area of Tehran by five gunshots.
According to Mohammad Shahrihari, Mohammad Ali Najafi went to Tehran’s police awareness office on Tuesday evening and surrendered to officers.
However, earlier, Babak Namkshenas, head of the capital’s police media center, had said that measures to arrest Mitra Ostad’s killer were underway and investigations were being conducted with the victim’s husband.
On the other hand, following the news of Mitra Ostad’s killing, Alireza Lotfi, head of Tehran’s police awareness office, announced the identification of a suspect in the case and said he was absconding.
Following the Tehran police awareness chief’s statements, some Iranian news agencies denied Mohammad Ali Najafi’s reported disappearance, citing his own words.
A Marriage That Caused Controversy
Shortly after Mohammad Ali Najafi’s first resignation from the position of Tehran’s mayor in Esfand of 1396 (March 2018), photos of him and Mitra Ostad, his much younger second wife, were posted on social media networks and caused controversy.
Ms. Ostad, in response to these controversies at the time, said: “It is not right to treat someone who has worked so hard for the country and the system in this way; to mock and ask why he got married.”
She told the “Omid Mardom” news channel: “They accused us of him having illicit relationships, I promise all people that until now I have not seen anything bad from Dr. Najafi.”
In another interview, responding to rumors about their marriage being a temporary contract, she said: “We fell in love and got married; anyone can fall in love and get married, I have a marriage certificate and even if it had been a temporary contract, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
However, Mitra Ostad’s 13-year-old son, after learning of his mother’s death today, told news agencies that according to him, Mohammad Ali Najafi had a habit of hitting and beating his mother.
He said that once when he tried to prevent his mother from being beaten, Mohammad Ali Najafi broke his arm.
Prolonged Presence in Cabinets
Mohammad Ali Najafi, a member of the Executives of Construction Party, has held various positions in the Islamic Republic over the past three decades.
His last position was mayor of Tehran. Najafi was elected mayor of Tehran in Shahrivar 1396 (September 2017), but the Tehran City Council approved his second resignation about eight months later. At that time, it was said that Najafi resigned due to external pressures, although he himself announced the reason for his resignation as “medical problems.”
Mohammad Ali Najafi was Minister of Science in Mohammad Javad Bahonar’s government, Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani’s government, and Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s first government.
From Shahrivar 1367 to Mordad 1376 (September 1988 to August 1997), for ten years during the presidency of Ayatollah Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, he was Minister of Education.
During Mohammad Khatami’s presidency, Najafi was Deputy President and head of the Plan and Budget Organization for three years. He then served as a member of Tehran’s City Council from 86 to 92 (2007-2013), and after Hassan Rouhani’s victory in the presidential election, initially served for a few months as Deputy President and head of the Cultural Heritage Organization, then continued his cooperation with Hassan Rouhani until 1396 (2018) as the President’s economic advisor. During this period, in 1393 (2014), he also served briefly as acting Minister of Science.
Source: DW
