Tavakkoli died of a heart attack at the age of 74, local Iranian media reported on Wednesday.

He was a long-serving lawmaker, representing Bushehr and later Tehran. He has Ph.D in economics from the United Kingdom Univeristy of Natingham.

He was a principlist politician and ecnomist. He was a critic of a capitalist economy, and backed the government's role in controlling the economy in the interest of impoverished classes.