TEHRAN -- Members of the Tehran city council in their 12th session on Tuesday unanimously elected Morteza Alviri as Tehran mayor. The elections were held with secret ballots. Alviri, 51, is the first mayor of Tehran since the Islamic city councils started their activities on April 29. He holds B.S. degree in electronics engineering from Sharif Industrial University and a master's degree in management.

Alviri was a member of the Central Council of the Islamic Revolution's Committees in 1979 and became a member of the Command Council of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps in 1980. He served as a deputy from Damavand and Tehran during the first and third terms of the Majlis and was a member of the commissions on industries as well as plan and budget.

He also headed the Plan and Budget Commission of the Majlis for some time. Alviri, was in charge of final regulation of the first five year economic, social, and cultural development plan and formulating the annual budget bills. He also served as the deputy chief of the Plan and Budget Organization for Parliamentary Affairs. He was a member of the 7-man team in charge of planning on critical conditions, formed by the then prime minister following decrease in oil prices on international markets in 1985. He also defended Iran's rights in two legal suits against the U.S. at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 1986 and 1987. (IRNA)