Najafi retired in March of last year due to an illness and possible "political pressure."
By TZVI JOFFREA man walks past Azadi Tower (Liberty Tower) in Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran, January 17, 2016.(photo credit: RAHEB HOMAVANDI/TIMA VIA REUTERS)
Former Mayor of Tehran Mohammad-Ali Najafi murdered his second wife at her home in the Iranian capital on Tuesday, according to Iranian news agency ISNA.Najafi confessed to the murder of his wife the head of the criminal prosecutor's office announced, according to ISNA.Najafi said that he had killed his wife because of family disputes, prosecutor Mohammad Shahriari said to ISNA."Mohammad Ali Najafi went to Tehran police and surrendered to officers," Shahriari said, according to Radio Farda. Najafi still had not been seen at the site of the murder in the early afternoon, even though the murder took place in the morning.Najafi retired in March of last year due to an illness and possible "political pressure", according to Radio Farda. Members of the Tehran City Council remarked to Radio Farda at the time that it seemed unlikely that Najafi's illness was serious enough to cause him to resign.Former deputy interior minister Mostafa Tajzadeh claimed in a tweet that pressure by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his aides caused Najafi to resign."A security organization had told the Tehran City Council before Najafi’s appointment as mayor that the organization would not accept Najafi as Tehran’s mayor, and if the council appoints him, the security organization would disclose damning documents about his background," said council member Bahareh Arvin, according to Radio Farda.
