In the 1980s, Chadirji became Councillor to the Mayor, a role that found him overseeing all the reconstruction projects in Baghdad.[20] He left Iraq in 1983 in order to take up an academic position at Harvard University. Some years later, on his return to Baghdad, he was saddened by the deterioration in the city. He and his wife decided to leave Iraq permanently and they settled in London, where he continued to live.[2]