Mohammad Tavasoli | |
---|---|
Tavasoli in 2012
|
|
Mayor of Tehran | |
In office February 1979 – 5 January 1981 |
|
Preceded by | Javad Shahrestani |
Succeeded by | Reza Zavarei (Acting) |
Personal details | |
Born |
c. 1938 (age 78–79) Tehran, Iran |
Nationality | Iranian |
Political party | Freedom Movement of Iran |
Alma mater | University of Tehran |
Profession | Engineer |
Mohammad Tavasoli (Persian: محمد توسلی) is an Iranian democracy activist and politician. He is the director of the political office of the Freedom Movement.
Tavasoli studied at Tehran University in 1956 and was one of the members of Anjoman-e Eslami. He joined the freedom movement soon after it was established. He went to Germany in 1962 to study transportation and traffic. After visiting the United States in 1967, he was returned to Iran and banned from traveling. He was arrested in 1971 because he helped a member of MEK and was jailed for one year. Before the Iranian Revolution, he was one the staff responsible for the advertising campaign rally to welcome Ruhollah Khomeini back to Iran after 15 years.
After the Iranian Revolution, he was elected as Mayor of Tehran. He was mayor from February 1979 until February 1980. He was jailed with Hashem Sabbaghian in 1983 but was released seven months later. He was jailed again after the 2009-2010 Iranian election protests after participating in a rally in June 2009. He was elected as the new leader of the Nationalist-Religious Coalition on 11 June 2011 after the previous leader, Ezatollah Sahabi, died on 31 May 2011.