March 16, 2007	Friday	Safar 26, 1428

LOS ANGELES, March 15: An Iranian-born businessman is in line to be the next mayor of Beverly Hills after completion of vote-counting in elections for the glamorous Los Angeles neighbourhood, officials said on Thursday.

Jimmy Delshad was re-elected to the five-member city council after claiming 2,579 votes in the 33,000-strong celebrity enclave, home to around 8,000 Iranians, many of whom arrived after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Delshad won one of two places up for grabs in the March 6 election, securing a second four-year term on the council, which annually rotates the largely ceremonial mayor's position among its five members.

The present incumbent, Steve Webb, finished behind Delshad and so will cede his position to the 66-year-old businessman, who emigrated to the United States as a teenager 48 years ago, and who is now the council's senior member.

Although Delshad's elevation to mayor is not legally set in stone, city council convention dictates that he is now expected to be sworn in as mayor at a ceremony on March 27, a Beverly Hills City spokeswoman said.

“There are no guarantees, but the convention has always been that the most senior member of the council takes priority,” the spokeswoman said.

Although the publication of ballot papers in English and Farsi sparked a minor controversy during the election campaign, Delshad's heritage and US-Iran political tensions were not an issue for voters.—AFP