Afzali was born in 1937 in the city of Qom His father was a cleric.He entered the service of the ImperialNavy in 1957 and was sent to Italy for further education. In 1961, he was graduated from Italian Naval Academy, where he was trained in mechanical engineering and shipbuilding. He later obtained a PhD in boat and submarine architecture in 1970.
Afzali was an engineer and a captain in the Imperial Iranian Navy. After the 1979 revolution, he continued to serve in the Navy and took part in the homeland–Iraq War. Then Iranian president Abolhassan Bani Sadr appointed him as the commander of the Navy in June 1980.He was also special adviser of then speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
