In his early political life Ala served as the chef de cabinet of the Iranian foreign ministry from 1905 to 1916. Subsequently, he was a member of an Iranian diplomatic delegation sent to the
Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Despite the efforts of the delegation, led by Aliqoli Massoud Ansari, and assisted ably by Ala, the British government of the time nixed Iran's hopes of officially attending the diplomatic gathering. Moreover, with the Iranian Government in Tehran having recently negotiated the Anglo-Iranian Agreement it was decided that Ansari and Ala would be banished to foreign legations to ensure they would not act as lightning rods against the agreement. Ala was appointed as the Iranian diplomatic envoy to Spain in 1920. Shortly thereafter Ala was appointed as Iran's lead diplomat in Washington where he attempted to interest American oil companies to agree to invest in Iran, to undercut the monopoly of the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company. He then became a member of parliament and was among the opposition to the fall of the
Qajar dynasty. He was the governor of
Bank Melli Iran from 1933 to 1934 and from 1941 to 1942. From 1934 to 1936, Alā was ambassador to the United Kingdom. Alā was Iranian Ambassador to the United States from 1946 to 1950. He was elected prime minister by parliament following the assassination of
Haj Ali Razmara in 1951. His premiership, however, was not to last long, and he resigned less than seven weeks later on 27 April, after
Mohammad Mosaddegh had submitted another oil nationalisation bill to parliament two days earlier. The issue of nationalisation was highly contentious, and Alā did not want to appear to oppose it. During his brief administration, the term of service of members of parliament was increased from 2 to 4 years. He was later appointed as
Court Minister, remaining one until his death. Alā was appointed prime minister for the second time in 1955, and in November 1955 survived an assassination attempt at the funeral of a son of
Abol-Ghasem Kashani. He was replaced in April 1957 after an upsetting international incident involving the murder of three Americans by outlaw Ahmad Shah and his gang. In 1963, the protests led by religious figures intensified in Iran due to the policies of the
Shah,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.{{cite book|author=Fakhreddin Azimi|title=Quest for Democracy in Iran: A century of struggle against authoritarian rule|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-674-02036-8|page=177 ==Personal life and death==