By DAISY NGUYEN
The Associated Press
Friday, March 9, 2007; 10:43 PM

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- An Iranian-born politician won re-election to the city council Friday, putting him in line to become the first Persian-born mayor of a community that for decades has been a hub for exiles of Iran's 1979 revolution.

With the vote count still not official, Jimmy Delshad had the second-highest number of votes, which would give him one of the two at-large council seats up for grabs in Tuesday's election.

"The mayor's job in Beverly Hills is very important, very visible, and I think I'm up to it," said Delshad, 66, who received hugs from his wife and adult children when ballot tallies were announced.

Beverly Hills mayors are chosen by council members and are decided by seniority. Council member Steve Webb, an attorney who lost his bid for re-election, is the current mayor and steps down March 20. Delshad is next in line.

"It's my hometown and it's been so good to me," Delshad said. "But if as a result of that, if I can open the door for other minorities in other parts of the country, then that's just the cream on top."

The mayor presides over council meetings. The city's chief executive is the hired city manager.

The fall of the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran in 1979 brought many Iranians to the Los Angeles area _ enough to earn the nickname Tehrangeles _ and today about 8,000 of Beverly Hill's approximately 35,000 residents are of Iranian descent.

Delshad, one of three candidates of Iranian descent, came much earlier. He left Iran as a teenager and has been in the United States for 48 years. He started a successful computer hardware company, which he sold.

He ran on a platform to make Beverly Hills the safest small city in the nation and pledged to improve traffic flow.