Ahmad Tavakkoli

Ahmad Tavakkoli (Persian: احمد توکلی; 5 March^{[citation needed]} 1951 – 23 July 2025) was an Iranian conservative and principlist politician and journalist. He was a member of the Expediency Discernment Council.^[5] Also he was the managing-director of Alef news website^[6] and founder of the corruption watchdog, non-governmental organization Justice and Transparency Watch.^[7]

Ahmad Tavakkoli
احمد توکلی
Tavakkoli in 2014
Member of Expediency Discernment Council
In office 14 August 2017 – 23 July 2025
Appointed by	Ali Khamenei
Chairman	Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Sadeq Larijani
President of the Majlis Research Center
In office 1 July 2004 – 1 July 2012
Preceded by	Mohammad Reza Khatami
Succeeded by	Kazem Jalali
Minister of Labour
In office 2 November 1981 – 2 August 1983
President	Ali Khamenei
Prime Minister	Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Preceded by	Mohammad Mir-Mohammad Sadeqi
Succeeded by	Abolqasem Sarhadizadeh
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office 28 May 2004 – 28 May 2016
Constituency	Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr
Majority	776,979
In office 28 May 1980 – 12 November 1981
Constituency	Behshahr
Majority	28,850
Personal details
Born	(1951-03-05)5 March 1951[citation needed] Behshahr, Iran
Died	23 July 2025(2025-07-23) (aged 74) Tehran, Iran
Political party	Front of Transformationalist Principlists[1]
Other political affiliations	Islamic Republican Party Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization[2]
Relatives	Mohammad Javad Larijani (cousin) [3] Fazel Larijani (cousin)[3] Ali Larijani (cousin)[3] Sadeq Larijani (cousin)[3] Bagher Larijani (cousin)[3] Sadegh Zibakalam (co-fathers-in-law)[4]
Residence(s)	Tehran, Iran
Alma mater	University of Nottingham
Signature

Tavakkoli was a representative of Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district in the parliament and the director of the Majlis Research Center.

Life and career

Tavakkoli was the minister of labour under Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a parliament representative from Behshahr, and a presidential candidate in two of the presidential elections in Iran (running against Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami).^[8]

Tavakkoli temporarily left politics after the leftist opposition forced him out of the ministry of labour. He founded Resalat, a conservative newspaper, and later left Iran to study economics in the UK, where he received his PhD.

Views and personal life

Tavakkoli was a critic of a capitalist economy, and backed the government's role in controlling the economy. He was a cousin of the Larijani brothers, including Ali Larijani and Mohammad Javad Larijani.

Tavakkoli was also a fierce critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.^[9] On 2 March 2011, PBS's Tehran Bureau reported that Tavakkoli criticized the then President for mentioning only Iran and not Islam in recent speeches.^[10]

Tavakkoli died of a heart attack in Tehran, on 23 July 2025, at the age of 74.^[11]

Electoral history

Year	Election	Votes	%	Rank	Notes
1980[a]	Parliament	28,850	50.2	1st	Won[12]
1993	President	3,972,201	24.3	2nd	Lost
2000[b]	Parliament	382,867	13.06	51st	Lost[13]
2001	President	4,393,544	15.6	2nd	Lost
2004[b]	Parliament	776,979	39.40	2nd	Won[14]
2008[b]	Parliament	568,459	32.65	4th	Won[15]
2012[b]	Parliament Round 1	481,012	22.69	7th	Went to Round 2[16]
	Parliament Round 2	404,595	35.91	3rd	Won[17]
2016[b]	Parliament	862,723	26.56	34th	Lost[18]

1. Behshahr
2. Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr