Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh (Persian: میرحسین موسوی خامنه) served as the last Prime Minister of Iran, from 1981 to 1989, before the position was abolished in the 1989 review of the Iranian constitution. In the years leading up to the Islamic Revolution, Mousavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, moved to the United States; they returned to Iran shortly after the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
Hassan Ayat (PhD) and Abdolhamid Diyalameh (PhD and MP) attempted to remove Mousavi and Rahnavard from the government; both men were killed under suspicious circumstances. After 20 years of absence from Iranian politics, Mousavi announced his candidacy in the 2009 Iranian Presidential election.
Mousavi supporters in Tehran, Iranian Presidential election, 2009
Past elections
Mousavi refused to run for President in the 1997 Iranian Presidential election. This led the reformists to choose Mohammad Khatami, who won a landslide victory. Mousavi's wife would later explain in an interview that her husband had not run in the 1997 election because of discouraging messages from "the higher officials", a hint possibly towards the Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei and/or the then President, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Mousavi ran as an independent Principled Reformist candidate.[1] Although one of the original founders of the Iranian reformist camp, he shares many conservative principles. Many reformist parties, among them reformist Islamic Iranian Participation Front (whose main candidate was Khatami), supported his candidacy after Khatami withdrew from the race.[2] Many supporters of the reformist movement, however, objected to Mousavi's candidacy on the grounds he was not committed to the principles of the reformist parties.[3] Although Mousavi stated he was not running as a reformist, he indicated he welcomed the support of different parties, both reformist and conservative.[4] He started his campaign from the center of Iranian politics, but over time shifted more towards the reformist camp by declaring his support for reform. Although some active members of the conservative camp, such as Emad Afroogh, and the conservative newspaper Jomhouri Eslami, supported Mousavi's candidacy, he did not receive the official backing of any major conservative party. His candidacy made it harder for the conservatives to support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and large conservative parties, such as the Combatant Clergy Association, did not back Ahmadinejad (the then current President) for a second term of office.[5]
The BBC reported Mousavi "called for greater personal freedoms in Iran and criticised the ban on private television channels", but "refused to back down from the country's disputed nuclear programme, saying it is "for peaceful purposes".[6]
On May 30, Mousavi pledged that, if elected, he would amend "discriminatory and unjust regulations" against women, and take other measures in favour of women's rights and equality.[7]
Mousavi addressing supporters during a presidential campaign stop in Zanjan
On May 23, 2009, the Iranian government blocked access to Facebook across the country, but rescinded the blockage after public protests. The Guardian reported the blockage had been a response to the use of Facebook by the candidates running against Ahmadinejad.[8] Mousavi had great support from those using social networking sites such as Facebook; PC World reported Mousavi's Facebook page had more than 6,600 supporters at the time.[9]
Endorsements
List of individuals and political parties endorsing Mir-Hossein Mousavi
According to official results, Mousavi lost the 2009 election. Accusations of fraud were, however, widespread; the results announcement led to widespread protests,[12] which were suppressed by the Iranian government.[13]
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