He was reportedly the son of Ali Larijani, a powerful political figure who served as the speaker of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly. He married a cousin of the Larijani brothers, further intertwining his life with one of Iran’s most politically influential families. He had seven children: five sons and two daughters. One of his sons, Zuhair Tavakoli, married into the family of political commentator Sadegh Zibakalam. Another son, Mohammad Tavakoli, was a graphic designer known professionally as Iran Graphic. Mohammad died of liver failure at the age of 34.
Education and Academic Career Tavakoli began his university education in 1969 at Pahlavi University, which later became Shiraz University after the Islamic Revolution. He studied electrical engineering but was expelled before graduation due to his involvement in student strikes. Despite this setback, he continued his education after the revolution and eventually obtained a PhD in economics from the University of Nottingham in England in 1997. His dissertation, titled “Causes of Inflation in the Iranian Economy, 1972–1990,” was funded by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Higher Education.
