Former Tehran mayor sentenced to death for killing wife - report

A former mayor of Tehran, Mohammad-Ali Najafi has been sentenced to death for killing his wife according to media reports. The mayor who also served as one of the country's vice presidents has been convicted of fatally shooting his wife, Mitra Ostad. The verdict can be appealed within 20 days.

Police detained Najafi in May after he went to authorities and confessed to the killing. At the time, officials said Najafi and Ostad, his second his wife, were having domestic problems.

Najafi resigned as mayor in 2018 after hard-liners criticized him over a video showing he attended a dance performance by young girls at a school show.

A mathematician, professor, and veteran politician, Najafi has previously served as President Hassan Rouhani's economic advisor and education minister. He was elected Tehran mayor in August 2017 but resigned the following April after facing criticism from conservatives for attending a dance performance by schoolgirls.

Mohammad-Ali Najafi married Ostad without divorcing his first wife, unusual in Iran where polygamy is legal but socially frowned upon.