Mohammad Tavasoli ( fa, محمد توسلی; born 15 May 1938) is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

democracy activist and politician. He is the Secretary-General and also the director of the political office of the Freedom Movement party.

Early life

Tavasoli studied at

Tehran University The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

in 1956 and was one of the members of

Anjoman-e Eslami Anjoman-e Eslami (Islamic Association, also Anjoman-e Eslami-ye Daneshjouyan Islamic Association of Students) is an Islamic student association in Iran that has backed Iranian reformers such as former President Mohammad Khatami and sponsored lectur ...

. He joined the freedom movement soon after it was established. He went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

, he was one of the staff responsible for the advertising campaign rally to welcome

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

back to Iran after 15 years.

Political career

After the

, he was elected as Mayor of

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. 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 in March 1988 and after the

2009-2010 Iranian election protests After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests co ...

after participating in a rally in June 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavasoli, Mohammad 1938 births Living people Islamic democracy activists University of Tehran alumni People from Tehran Iranian revolutionaries People of the Iranian Revolution National Front (Iran) student activists Members of the Association for Defense of Freedom and the Sovereignty of the Iranian Nation Secretaries-general of the Freedom Movement of Iran Heads of political office of the Freedom Movement of Iran