He left Iran in 1979 following the regime change in the country and settled in the US where he continued his academic studies.
[4] Following his graduation, Lalezari joined the University of Tehran where he served as the chair of the chemistry department (1970–1978) and the dean of the pharmacology faculty (1973–1979).
[4] He had to leave Iran due to the establishment of an Islamic government in February 1979 and continued his academic studies in New York City[3] where he worked at the Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
[6] Lalezari was part of the Iranian Jewish delegation led by Moussa Kermanian who met with President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
[3] Lalezari had numerous patents which he obtained between February 1977 and May 2015, including treatments for Alzheimer's disease using gene therapy methodologies.
[10][11] Iraj Lalezari discovered the hemoglobin A1C test which has been used in many countries to diagnose diabetes.