Mohammad Atrianfar is an Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian journalist and reformist

Iranian reformists

The Iranian reform movement , or the Reforms Front also known as 2nd of Khordad Front is a political movement by a group of political parties and organizations in Iran who supported Mohammad Khatami's plans to change the system to include more freedom and...

 politician, currently the head of the "Policymaking Council" of the daily newspaper Shargh

Shargh

Shargh is the most popular reformist newspaper in Iran. It is managed by Mehdi Rahmanian, and its chief editor was Mohammad Ghouchani in its first period of publication...

. He is a member of the Executives of Construction Party

Executives of Construction Party

The Executives of Construction Party is a political party in Iran, founded by several members of the cabinet of the then President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani...

. Atrianfar has a degree in petroleum processing engineering from Sharif University of Technology

Sharif University of Technology

Sharif University of Technology is a university of higher education in technology, engineering and physical sciences in Tehran. Sharif University of Technology is one of the most prestigious universities in the country, and is considered Iran's MIT...

, and is a senior political advisor to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is an influential Iranian politician and writer, who was the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until his resignation in 2011...

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From 1999 to 2003, Atrianfar was an elected member of the City Council of Tehran

City Council of Tehran

The City Council of Tehran is the elected council that presides over the city of Tehran, elects the Mayor of Tehran, and budgets of the Municipality of Tehran.The council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms...

, and was the Vice Minister of Interior in Politics under Minister Abdollah Noori

Abdollah Noori

Abdollah Noori is an Iranian reformist politician and cleric. Despite his "long history of service to the Islamic Republic," he became the most senior Islamic politician to be sentenced to prison since the Iranian Revolution when he was sentenced to five years in prison for political and religious...

. He also been vice president of the Defence Industries Organization of Iran

Defense Industries Organization

The Defense Industries Organization The Defense Industries Organization The Defense Industries Organization (DIO; Persian: Sasadjah (Sazemane Sanaye Defa) is a conglomerate of companies run by the Islamic Republic of Iran whose function is to provide the military of Iran with the necessary...

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In 1992, Atrianfar was appointed by Gholamhossein Karbaschi

Gholamhossein Karbaschi

Gholamhossein Karbaschi is an Iranian politician who was the Mayor of Tehran from 1989 until 1998. He is considered politically reformist and is a close ally of former president Mohammad Khatami...

, to be the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Hamshahri

Hamshahri

Hamshahri is a major national Iranian Persian-language newspaper published by the Municipality of Tehran, and founded by Gholamhossein Karbaschi. It is the first coloured daily newspaper in Iran and has over 60 pages of classified advertisement, and is priced at 1000 Iranian rials. Currently, the...

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He was replaced in 2003 by Alireza Sheikh-Attar , who was appointed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the then, new mayor of Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

.
He was the publisher of another reformist newspaper, Shargh

Shargh

Shargh is the most popular reformist newspaper in Iran. It is managed by Mehdi Rahmanian, and its chief editor was Mohammad Ghouchani in its first period of publication...

, until 2006.

In August 2009, Atrianfar was among those prominent reformists put on trial for being alleged conspirators against the Iranian government following the disputed presidential election of June 12th 2009. The trial was aired on television and Atrianfar (in prison garb), a known protégé of Mr Rafsanjani, was shown on television chiding "the former president for his errors and asked for forgiveness from the supreme leader

Supreme leader

A supreme leader typically refers to a figure in the highest leadership position of an entity, group, organization, or state, who exercises strong or all-powerful authority over it. In religion, the supreme leader or supreme leaders is God or Gods...

whose wisdom and alert leadership is guaranteed by nightly secrets between him and God.