Reza Ardakanian (Persian: رضا اردکانیان) is an Iranian professor, politician and former Minister of Energy of Iran, a position he had held from 29 October 2017 to 25 August 2021.

Reza Ardakanian is the Founding Director of the United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES) since 2012.

He served as Director of the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC) from 2007 to 2015 and as ad interim Vice-Rector of the United Nations University (UNU) in Europe from 2009 to 2011.

During his tenure as the senior official at the United Nations, his leadership contributed largely to the implementation of the MDGs and the SDGs, especially on global capacity development.

He is co-opted professor at the Technische Universität Dresden and a faculty member of the Sharif University of Technology since 1998 and supervised 15 PhD and MSc students.

He has authored, co-authored, and edited over 100 publications, including books, journal papers, research reports, lecture notes, and articles for the media.

The UNU-FLORES is now a true think tank to the UN Member States who seek innovative solutions towards the integrated management of water, soil and waste.