Ali Ahmadi, the New CEO of the Teachers' Reserve Fund, with a Background in Urea Brokerage and Rent-Seeking Growth

The appointment of Ali Ahmadi as the CEO of the Teachers' Reserve Fund, only a few months after the news of the previous CEO's conviction to dismissal from service was published, has sparked a new wave of questions about the method of selecting managers for one of the most important economic entities related to Iranian educators. 

According to published reports, Ali Ahmadi was appointed as a board member and the new CEO of the Teachers' Reserve Fund on Sunday, October 4, 2026, replacing Ali Sadeghi. A day before this appointment, energy sector media had named Ahmadi alongside Mohsen Alizadeh and Atabak Jafari as candidates for managing the fund, stating that Ahmadi's chances for assuming this position were higher.

This managerial change occurred while Ali Sadeghi, the former CEO of the fund, had previously been sentenced by the Court of Accounts to temporary dismissal from government services. Published reports have stated that the reason for this sentence was the lack of cooperation in the auditing process and the provision of necessary documents to the court. Some sources have announced the duration of the dismissal as nine months, although another report had previously mentioned a six-month sentence; a discrepancy that itself indicates ambiguity in the published information about the former manager's case.

From the Teachers' Reserve Fund to the 'Friendship Fund'?

However, the selection of Sadeghi's successor has not been without controversy. Before Ahmadi's appointment was formalized, some media raised questions about the criteria for his selection and what they called 'special support from the Minister of Education.' Critics have also claimed that geographical proximity and relationships between individuals played a role in this selection, using terms like 'hometown favoritism' to describe it.

These claims have not yet been independently proven, and merely being from the same hometown or having a working relationship cannot alone be a reason to prove the involvement of personal relationships in an appointment. However, in an organization where its financial resources are linked to the interests of hundreds of thousands of educators and their families, clarifying the process of selecting a CEO and publishing the evaluation criteria for candidates can resolve a significant portion of these ambiguities.

Another criticism relates to Ahmadi's managerial background. The 'Khate Bazar' media outlet wrote before his appointment that in Ahmadi's background, in addition to being a board member of Masjed Soleyman Petrochemical and Saba Energy Holding, there is no executive and operational experience suitable for managing an entity the size of the Teachers' Reserve Fund. This assessment is the opinion of that media and does not by itself prove Ahmadi's lack of qualification; however, it raises a question for the Ministry of Education: On what criteria was Ahmadi selected from among the available candidates?

The Teachers' Reserve Fund is not an ordinary company where the appointment of its CEO is merely considered an internal decision. This entity is managed with multiple companies and investments and assets related to educators, and for this reason, the method of selecting its managers is directly linked to the issue of transparency and accountability.

The Shadow of the 90,000 Tons of Urea Case on the New Appointment

Another part of the criticism relates to Ahmadi's presence on the board of Masjed Soleyman Petrochemical. 'Khate Bazar' has mentioned his name in connection with the sale of 90,000 tons of urea from this company and has written that Ahmadi was one of the signatories of the proforma related to this deal. This media outlet has also stated that the ambiguities related to this case have never been clearly resolved.

The appointment of a manager about whom such questions have been raised in the media, especially after a managerial period that ended with the dismissal of the previous CEO, increases the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and the fund's board to provide transparency. The issue is not just about Ali Ahmadi. The main question is how the CEO of an entity with such a volume of assets and economic responsibility is selected based on what competitive process, what professional criteria, and what evaluation of financial and managerial backgrounds.

 Until the Ministry of Education and the Teachers' Reserve Fund provide documented and reviewable explanations about these criteria, the claim of special support for Ahmadi, and the ambiguities raised about his background, the new appointment, instead of ending the managerial controversies of the fund, will itself become a new subject for demanding transparency.