Ahmad Tavakkoli

Ahmad Tavakkoli (احمد توکلی in Persian) is a conservative representative of Tehran in the Iranian parliament, and the Director of Strategic Majlis Research Center. He was a possible candidate for the role of Speaker of the Parliament, but he refused to run for the post.

Before, he had been the Iranian 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, both in their second terms).

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 got his Ph.D.. After his return to Iran, he founded "Farda" which was considered a professional and sound newspaper before going bankrupt.

Tavakkoli is a critic of a capitalistic economy, and backs the government's role in controlling the economy.

Tavakkoli is a cousin of the Larijani brothers, the most famous of which are Ali Larijani and Mohammad Javad Larijani.