Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi ( fa, عباس آخوندی, born 6 June 1957) is an Iranian politician and academic and former Minister of Roads and Urban Development, from 2013 to 2018. In 1993, Akhoundi became the

Minister of Housing and Urban Development The Minister of Housing is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the government's house-building programme. The position was established in 1938 as Minister in charge of Housing, and has most commonly been known a ...

, making him one of the youngest ministers in Iran's modern history until

Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi ( fa, محمدجواد آذری جهرمی; born 16 September 1982) is an Iranian politician and former intelligence officer who served as the Minister of Information and Communications Technology in the administration ...

's appointment in 2017.

Early life and education

The grandson of Grand Ayatollah Allameh Amini, Akhoundi was born in Najaf where his grandfather resided. Along with other Iranian families, he was deported from Iraq in the 1970s. He is also the brother-in-law of

Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri ( fa, علی‌اکبر ناطق‌نوری; sometimes spelt Nategh-Nouri, born 6 October 1944) is an Iranian politician, who served as the Chairman of the Parliament of Iran from 1992 to 2000. He was also the Minister of ...

. Akhoundi acquired his BEng and MSc from University of Tehran in Civil Engineering. He obtained a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Political Economy from

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

in 2006. His thesis was titled ''Globalization, the nation-state and national economic policy making : the attitudes of Iran's elites''.

Political career

Akhoundi is also widely accredited for drafting Iran's privatization bill known as Article 44 of the constitution. In 2011, he wrote a set of advised amendments to Article 44 published by Chamber of Commerce Industries and Mines, none of which have been implemented. During his time as the minister he founded the Construction Engineering Organization, the NGO responsible for the standardization of construction in Iran. Akhoundi served as Minister of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997 in the cabinet of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He was chosen for the ministry of Roads and Urban Development by the newly elected President

Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...

, he needed to gain a vote of confidence from the Iranian Parliament before taking office. He was approved to take office on 15 August winning 159 from a possible 284 votes. He was also Head of the Iranian Housing Fund Charity for 8 years.

Views

Akhoundi maintains

economically liberal Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism, ...

views and is politically a

reformer A reformer is someone who works for reform. Reformer may also refer to: *Catalytic reformer, in an oil refinery *Methane reformer, producing hydrogen * Steam reformer *Hydrogen reformer, extracting hydrogen *Methanol reformer, producing hydrogen ...

. He supported Mir-Hossein Mousavi for president in 2009 and was an important figure in his campaign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhoundi, Abbas Ahmad 1957 births Living people University of Tehran alumni Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London People from Najaf Government ministers of Iran Impeached Iranian officials