Ahmad Tavakoli

Ahmad Tavakkoli (Persian: احمد توکلی‎, born 5 March 1951) is an Iranian conservative populist politician, journalist and anti-corruption activist. He is currently managing-director of Alef news website and founder of the corruption watchdog, non-governmental organization Justice and Transparency Watch.

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

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).

Tavakkoli temporarily left politics after the leftists oppositions 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 is a critic of a capitalist economy, and backs the government's role in controlling the economy. He is a cousin of the Larijani brothers, including Ali Larijani and Mohammad Javad Larijani.

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

Electoral history