About Mohammad Bagher Gha Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (Persian: محمدباقر قالیباف, born August 23, 1961 in Torghabeh, near Mashhad) is the current Mayor of Tehran, Iran.Early life and military career Ghalibaf was born to a Khorasani Kurdish father and a Persian mother. At the age of nineteen, he was one of the commanders of the defense forces during the Iran–Iraq War. Shortly afterwards he was named commander of the Rasulollah (the messenger of God) division (one of the most successful divisions in that war). By the time he was twenty-two, he was already commander of the Nasr Troops—a position that in the West would be lead by a Major General at the least. After the war he was selected as Deputy Commander of the Resistance Force and Basij Troops under General Afshar. Ghalibaf received the degree of Major General in 1996 after he had successfully completed a master of arts degree in Geopolitics. In 1998, when Commanding General Rezaie (head of the AGIR/IRGC) retired and Commanding General Safavi took over, he was named Commander of AFAGIR (Air Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution). Ghalibaf is quoted as saying, "On that night I went home and told my family about my new position. My son laughed and said so they have named someone who can't even fly, as Commander of an Air Force. I told him don't bother, I'll soon fly Jumbo Jets, and now I am a co-pilot of Jumbos." In 2001, he received a Ph.D. in Geopolitics from Tarbiat Modares University.