Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh ( fa, میرحسین موسوی خامنه, Mīr-Hoseyn Mūsavī Khāmené, ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian
reformist
Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement.
Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...
politician, artist and architect who served as the forty-ninth and last
Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. He was a reformist candidate for the
2009 presidential election and eventually the leader of the opposition in the
post-election unrest. Mousavi served as the president of the
Iranian Academy of Arts until 2009, when Conservative authorities removed him.
In the early years of the revolution, Mousavi was the editor-in-chief of ''
Jomhouri-e Eslami
''Jomhouri-e Eslami'' ( fa, جمهوری اسلامی) is an official Newspapers in Iran, Iranian newspaper, which started its work on 30 May 1979, as the newspaper of Islamic Republic Party. In the beginning it was under the grantee of Islamic R ...
'', the official newspaper of the
Islamic Republican Party
The Islamic Republican Party (IRP; fa, حزب جمهوری اسلامی, Ḥezb-e Jomhūrī-e Eslāmī, also translated Islamic Republic Party) formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini establish theocracy in Iran. ...
, before being elevated to
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
and eventually the post of Prime Minister. He was the last Prime Minister in Iran prior to the 1989
constitutional changes which removed the post of the prime minister; he then went into semi-retirement for the next 20 years. He remains a member of the
Expediency Discernment Council
The Expediency Discernment Council of the System ( fa, مجمع تشخیص مصلحت نظام ''Majma'-e Taškhīs-e Maslahat-e Nezām'') is an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Co ...
and the
High Council of Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution (1980–1983; fa, انقلاب فرهنگی: Enqelābe Farhangi) was a period following the Iranian Revolution, when the academia of Iran was purged of Western and non-Islamic influences (including traditionalist unpoli ...
. However, he has not participated in their meetings for years, which is interpreted by political analysts and commentators as a sign of his disapproval.
For the 2009 Iranian Presidential election, Mousavi came out of semi-retirement and ran as one of two Reformist candidates against the administration of incumbent
President of Iran
The president of Iran ( fa, رئیسجمهور ایران, Rayis Jomhur-e Irān) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The president is the second highest-ranking official of Iran after the Supreme Leader.
The president ...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. According to official results, he didn't win the election, and following alleged vote-rigging and manipulation, his campaign sparked a long protest that eventually turned into a national and international movement against the Government and Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei. Despite the violent crackdown, he remains the leader of the
Green Movement but his movements have remained severely restricted. He chose green as his campaign color, a color which is pervasive in Iran. He is currently under
house arrest along with his wife
Zahra Rahnavard and
Mehdi Karroubi
Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house a ...
.
[Iran: Further information: Opposition leaders arbitrarily held](_blank)
Amnesty International, 29 September 2011
Early life, education, and career
Seyyed
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhammad' ...
Mir-Hossein Mousavi was born on 2 March 1942 in
Khameneh
Khamaneh ( fa, خامنه; also Romanized as Khāmeneh, Khamaneh, and Khāmneh; also known as Khumla and Khumna) is a city in the Central District of Shabestar County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran; and at the distance of 72 km from Tabriz. At th ...
,
East Azerbaijan
East Azerbaijan Province ( fa, استان آذربایجان شرقی ''Āzarbāijān-e Sharqi''; az-Arab, شرقی آذربایجان اوستانی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, ...
, Iran.
He is an ethnic
Azerbaijani, whose family originated from
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
. His father, Mir-Ismail, was a tea merchant from Tabriz. Mousavi grew up in Khameneh, and moved to
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 ...
following his graduation from high school in 1958.
Mousavi is a relative of fellow Khameneh native
Ali Khamenei: Mousavi's grandmother is Khamenei's paternal aunt.
He earned his undergraduate degree in architecture from the
National University of Tehran
Shahid Behesti University ( fa, دانشگاه شهید بهشتی , Dāneshgāh-e Shahid Beheshti) (formerly known as the National University of Iran) is a Public university, public research university in Tehran, Iran. The university offers man ...
(now Shahid Beheshti University),
and in 1969 was awarded his master's degree in architecture from the National University of Tehran,
focusing primarily on traditional
Iranian architecture
Iranian architecture or Persian architecture ( Persian: معمارى ایرانی, ''Memāri e Irāni'') is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC ...
.
While a student, he was an active member of the leftist
Islamic association of students.
During his college years, Mousavi had a close relationship with the
Freedom Movement of Iran
The Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) or Liberation Movement of Iran (LMI; fa, نهضت آزادی ايران, Nahżat-e āzādi-e Irān) is an Iranian pro-democracy political organization founded in 1961, by members describing themselves as "Muslim ...
,
a religious-nationalist political party founded by
Ali Shariati
Ali Shariati Mazinani ( fa, علی شریعتی مزینانی, 23 November 1933 – 18 June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intell ...
, whom Mousavi admired for many years. Although the party would not be invited to the post-revolution government, many future political leaders of Iran who were affiliated with the party at the time, among them
Mehdi Bazargan,
Yadolah Sahabi,
Mahmoud Taleghani
Sayyid Mahmoud Alaee Taleghani ( fa, محمود طالقانی, , also Romanized as Seyed Mahmūd Tāleqānī; 5 March 1911 – 9 September 1979) was an Iranian theologian, Muslim reformer, democracy advocate and a senior Shi'a Islamic Scholar ...
, and
Mostafa Chamran
Mostafa Chamran Save'ei ( fa, مصطفی چمران ساوهای) (2 October 1932 – 21 June 1981) was an Iranian physicist, politician, commander and guerrilla fighter who served as the first defense minister of post-revolutionary Iran ...
would become Mousavi's closest allies. Mousavi was among the student activists who regularly attended Ali Shariati's lectures at
Hosseiniyeh Ershad of Tehran,
where Mousavi also exhibited his artwork under the pseudonym Hossein Rah'jo.
In 1969, Mousavi married
Zahra Rahnavard, a fellow university student who specialized in sculpture, and was among the well-known students of Ali Shariati.
Rahnavard later became the
Chancellor of
Alzahra University
Alzahra University ( fa, دانشگاه الزهرا, ''Dāneshgāh-e Alzahrā'') is a female-only public university in the Vanak neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. Alzahra University is the only comprehensive women's university in Iran and the Mid ...
as well as political adviser to Iran's former President
Mohammad Khatami. The couple have three daughters; all speak
Azeri
Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...
,
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, English, and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
.
Iranian Revolution
Mousavi and his wife had an active role in the success of 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 dyna ...
.
He was imprisoned for organizing street protests against the
monarchy
A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...
of
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 Octobe ...
.
As 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 dyna ...
neared, Mousavi, whose earliest political hero was
, became more actively involved in the struggle. He initially participated in the establishment of the Jonbesh-e Mosalmanan-e Mobarez (
Movement of Militant Muslims
The Movement of Militant Muslims ( fa, جنبش مسلمانان مبارز) is an Iranian Islamic socialist political group led by Habibollah Payman. The group had been revolutionary and is close to Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists o ...
) alongside
Habibollah Peyman
Habibollah Peyman ( fa, حبیبالله پیمان; born 1935) is an Iranian politician. He is the founder and the leader of an Islamist Socialist political party, named ''Jonbesh Moslamanan Mobarez'', which is banned by the religious governm ...
which eventually led him to join ranks with
Mohammad Beheshti
Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti ( fa, سیّد محمد حسینی بهشتی; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after t ...
, who was a close associate of the revolution leader,
Ruhollah Khomeini, and abandoned his previous connections with Ali Shariati.
Following the collapse of the Shah's regime in 1979, Mousavi helped
Mohammad Beheshti
Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti ( fa, سیّد محمد حسینی بهشتی; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after t ...
found the Islamic Republican Party in 1979 in order to assist the establishment of the
Islamic republic in Iran and hasten the overthrow of Iran's monarchy.
He became the political secretary of the party,
and chief editor of ''Jomhouri-e Eslami'', the party's official newspaper.
For this, he is widely viewed as "The Architect" of the Islamic Republic both in Iran and abroad.
In mid-1979, he was appointed by Khomeini to the
Council of the Islamic Revolution. As the chief editor of ''Jomhouri-e Eslami'', he was a loud critic and opponent of
Abolhassan Banisadr
Seyyed Abolhassan Banisadr ( fa, سید ابوالحسن بنیصدر; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution aboli ...
, the first president of the Islamic Republic, until the latter's 1981 flight to France, following a successful impeachment by parliament. During Banisadr's presidency, the prime minister
Mohammad Ali Rajai
Mohammad-Ali Rajai ( fa, محمدعلی رجائی; 15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was the second president of Iran from 2 to 30 August 1981 after serving as prime minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. He was also minister of foreign affairs fro ...
nominated Mousavi as his foreign minister, however Banisadr opposed the nomination and Mousavi was not appointed.
On 15 August 1981, as part of the restructuring of the government in Rajai's cabinet, Mousavi was appointed
foreign minister.
He held the post until 15 December 1981, when he received the higher appointment of prime minister.
Prime ministership
In August 1981, President
Mohammad-Ali Rajai
Mohammad-Ali Rajai ( fa, محمدعلی رجائی; 15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was the second president of Iran from 2 to 30 August 1981 after serving as prime minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. He was also minister of foreign affairs fr ...
and Prime Minister
Mohammad-Javad Bahonar
Mohammad-Javad Bahonar ( fa, محمدجواد باهنر, 5 September 1933 – 30 August 1981) was a Shia Iranian theologian and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Iran for less than one month in August 1981. Bahonar and other member ...
were assassinated in an explosion.
Ali Khamenei was then elected as the third
President of Iran
The president of Iran ( fa, رئیسجمهور ایران, Rayis Jomhur-e Irān) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The president is the second highest-ranking official of Iran after the Supreme Leader.
The president ...
in the
October 1981 Iranian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Iran on 2 October 1981, after the assassination of Mohammad-Ali Rajai, the previous President of Iran, during the interim premiership of Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani. It led to the uncontested victory of Ali Kh ...
. He put forward
Ali Akbar Velayati
Ali Akbar Velayati ( fa, علیاکبر ولایتی ; born 24 June 1945, Tehran) is an Iranian conservative politician and physician. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council. Velayati is a distinguished professor at Shah ...
as his prime minister, but the Iranian parliament did not give him the
vote of confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
, and he was defeated with a vote of 80 to 74.
Although Khamenei had strong reservations with Mousavi, as a compromise with the left-leaning parliament, agreed to offer Mousavi for the post of premier.
On 28 October 1981, with the approval of Khomeini, the parliament approved Mousavi with a vote of 115 to 39 to become the 79th
prime minister of Iran on 31 October 1981.
The conflicts between Mousavi, who belonged to the left wing of the Islamic Republic, with Ali Khamenei (the current
leader of Iran), who belonged to the right wing of the Islamic Republic, continued during their eight years of shared governance.
However, an escalation in conflicts between the two led to Mousavi's resignation shortly after the end of the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...
in 1988.
As the prime minister, Mousavi had the full backing of Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader, and he refused to accept his resignation. While his government was viewed as somewhat liberal, he was still under the pressure of hardliners, though Khomeini generally protected Mousavi from the conservatives and gave him a free rein in deciding actions for the economy.
However, his involvement in security matters remained less clear, and it was disputed whether or not Mousavi was involved in the killing of thousands of dissidents and minorities in Kurdistan and Mazandaran during this time. It has generally been accepted that Mousavi and Mohsen Rezaee (who was in charge of the Revolutionary Guards during this time) have never been close, though he was in charge of foreign operations, particularly in Lebanon.
Mousavi's premiership coincided with the Iran–Iraq War. He guided the country through its war with Iraq, and earned popular acclaim for his stewardship of the national economy.
He pioneered a
bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
-based economy, which many believe was responsible for a fair distribution of goods among the people throughout the Iran–Iraq War. Many analysts praise his handling of
Iran's economy, his civil and economic leadership during the Iran–Iraq War, and his efforts to end Iran's international isolation. Others remember him as being "unpredictable" and less able to navigate Iran's labyrinthine political system than were his rivals.
In 1986, Mousavi played a great role in the
Iran–Contra affair
The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...
and secret negotiations and dealing with USA on helping them free the American hostages in Lebanon, in return for sale of the American weapons and spare-parts that Iran's army badly needed for the Iran–Iraq War.
A year after the end of the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...
on 20 August 1988, Ruhollah Khomeini died (June 3, 1989), and Ali Khamenei was elected as the new
Supreme Leader by the
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...
. Following his death, Mousavi and his fellow left-wingers lost their main source of support within the establishment.
During the parliament hearing on post-war reconstruction plans, Mousavi had heated arguments with
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islam ...
, the speaker of
Iran's parliament at the time, over Rafsanjani's suggestion that Iran accept the offer of western countries to help with post-war reconstruction.
On 28 July 1989, the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
was amended and approved by Iranian voters in a
national referendum with a 97% yes vote. At this time,
Mehdi Karrubi
Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house ...
had been elected as the new speaker of the parliament, to whom the amended constitution was declared. One of these amendments abolished the position of Prime Minister.
Rafsanjani was
elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
as the fourth president of Iran on 28 July 1989, and became the president on 3 August 1989. Mousavi's premiership ended on the same date.
Mousavi was not invited to be a participant in the new government headed by Rafsanjani, and disappeared from the public sphere.
Early stance on pre-revolutionary icons
Some pre-revolutionary filmmakers have accounts about celebrities who have been hurt by Mousavi's positions in his early years in office. Saeed Motalebi, an established writer and director in the pre-revolutionary era, has one of such accounts that refers to the 1982 film ''The Imperilled'' (Barzakhi-ha) which was written by him and had four pre-revolutionary male stars in the lead roles. It was directed by
Iraj Ghaderi
Iraj Ghaderi ( fa, ایرج قادری; 17 April 1934 – 6 May 2012) was an Iranian film director and actor. He briefly studied to become a pharmacist, but soon dropped out. He died in Tehran on 6 May 2012, aged 77.
Life
Iraj Ghaderi ...
and, with its patriotic story about resisting foreign invasion, it was a chance for
Fardin,
Malek-Motiei,
Ghaderi and
Rad to renew their threatened careers as actors in the post-revolutionary atmosphere. The film was a hit and became the highest grossing Iranian film of all time in its short period of screening in theaters. But it was soon banned and consequently the four actors were banned from working. About how the film's success was turned into disaster Motalebi says:
In one friday Mr. Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Mohsen Makhmalbaf ( fa, محسن مخملباف, ''Mohsen Makhmalbaaf''; born May 29, 1957) is an Iranian film director, writer, film editor, and producer. He has made more than 20 feature films, won some 50 awards and been a juror in more than 1 ...
gathered a couple of people and they started collecting signatures for a petition which was written on a scroll, stating that "We have made a revolution while these actors are transgressors." They did it right in front of that theater in the Revolution Square near the university of Tehran. They said "Look how theaters are crowded while friday
Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...
events are deserted." That's how they stopped my film.
Then a reporter who was queued to ask something about our film, went and told the then prime minister (Mir-Hossein Mousavi) "There is a film in theaters whose writer wants to convey that people who are fighting in the fronts are problematic persons." The prime minister replied "These are leftovers of junk intellectuals who will soon go to the dustbin of history." Malek-Motiei became jobless and turned his garage into a pastry shop. Ghaderi put some rice bags in his office and became a rice dealer. Fardin opened a pastry shop too and when I went to visit him, I used to wait outside as long as there were no customers so that he wouldn't feel ashamed when he saw me. These were all caused by those illogical efforts which I will never forgive.
1988 prison massacres
On 12 December 2018
Amnesty International published an interview of the
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n national public service
ORF (broadcaster), on 13 December 1988, with Mir Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi was asked about the mass executions inside Iran's prison at the time he was in office. Mousavi replied, “We repressed them”. Amnesty's report criticizes Mousavi's response asserting that “without explaining what he is acknowledging ... he focuses on criticizing the July 1988 armed incursion by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).” The report goes on to say:
Since 2009, when he re-entered politics as a Reformist opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi’s response when asked about the 1988 prison massacres has often been to avoid commenting or to claim that they took place without the knowledge of his government. In this way, he has tried to justify his failure to stop, investigate or at least condemn the killings publicly. However, documents from Amnesty International’s archives show that the organization repeatedly raised its concerns about reports of mass prisoner executions with senior officials in Mir Hossein Mousavi’s government.
Retirement from politics
When Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, died in 1989, Mousavi was no longer welcome in the government.
It was the start of 20 years of an almost total absence from public life for Mousavi, which many considered as a sign of his disapproval of the established government, though he did sit on two high-level government councils.
In 1989, Ali Khamenei named him as a member of the
Expediency Discernment Council
The Expediency Discernment Council of the System ( fa, مجمع تشخیص مصلحت نظام ''Majma'-e Taškhīs-e Maslahat-e Nezām'') is an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Co ...
, his membership of which still continues. Mousavi has been a member of the
Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution since 1996. He was also the political adviser of president
Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...
(1989–1997) and senior adviser of president Khatami (1997–2005).
During these years, he partly retired from politics and returned to architecture and teaching, becoming President of the
Iranian Academy of Arts, one of the four academies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The main building of the Academy is designed by him.
At the same time, he developed his passion for painting and writing poetry. He was a professor at
Shahid Beheshti University
Shahid Behesti University ( fa, دانشگاه شهید بهشتی , Dāneshgāh-e Shahid Beheshti) (formerly known as the National University of Iran) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. The university offers many programs at Bache ...
and later joined the Academic staff of
Tarbiat Modares University. His main field is architecture, and buildings such as ''Kanoon-e Tohid'' in Tehran, ''Beynolharamein Bazaar'' in
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
, ''Haft-e-tir Martyr's tomb'' in
Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra, and ''Salman mosque'' in the presidential residence are examples of his work. In recent years, he has been more active in painting and has participated in many exhibitions.
Presidential candidacy
Pre-2009
Mousavi refused to run for the presidency in the 1997 elections, which caused the reformists to turn to his former Cabinet Minister, then a little-known cleric,
Mohammad Khatami, who was elected by a landslide. During Khatami's administration, Mousavi served as the Senior Adviser to the President.
Mousavi was considered the leading candidate from the reformist alliance to run in the
2005 Iranian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Iran 17 June 2005, with a second round run-off on 24 June. Mohammad Khatami, the previous President of Iran, stepped down on 2 August 2005, after serving his maximum two consecutive four-year terms accordin ...
. However, on 12 October 2004, he officially declined the proposal after a meeting with President Mohammad Khatami and the two other top members of one of Iran's main Reformist parties, the
Association of Combatant Clerics
The Association of Combatant Clerics ( fa, مجمع روحانیون مبارز, ''Majma'-e rowhāniyūn-e mobārez'') is an Iranian reformist clerical political party. It is regarded as a left-wing party within the Iranian political spectrum.
H ...
,
Mehdi Karroubi
Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house a ...
and
Mohammad Mousavi-Khoiniha.
2009 presidential candidacy
After 20 years of political silence, on 9 March 2009, Mousavi announced his intention to run in the
2009 Iranian presidential election. He stated that his main goals were: to institutionalize social justice, equality and fairness, freedom of expression, to root out corruption and to speed up Iran's stagnant process of privatization, and thus move Iran away from what he called "an alms-based economy". Mousavi criticized the then-current conservative President,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for his alleged economic mismanagement, asking, when Iran "was making profits from the high prices of oil, did he (Ahmadinejad) envisage a situation when the prices would fall?" On 16 March 2009, the former Iranian President Khatami withdrew from the election in support of Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Platform
Mousavi ran as an independent Principled Reformist candidate. Although he is one of the original founders of the Iranian reformist camp, he shares many principles of the conservatives. Many reformist parties, among them reformist Islamic Iranian Participation Front, whose main candidate was Khatami, have supported his candidacy after the latter withdrew from the race. Many supporters of the reformist movement, however, objected to Mousavi's candidacy on the grounds that he was not committed to the principles of the reformist parties. Although Mousavi stated that he was not running as a reformist, he indicated that he welcomed the support of different parties, both reformist and conservative. He started his campaign from the center of Iranian politics; over time, he shifted more towards the left by declaring his support for reforms. Although some active members of the conservative camp, such as
Emad Afroogh, as well as the conservative newspaper ''Jomhouri-e 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 the current President for a second term of office.
Domestic policies
Mousavi had on numerous occasions indicated his wish to change the constitution in order to remove the existing ban on the private ownership of television stations (currently all Iranian television stations are state-owned), as well as transfer the control of the law-enforcement forces to the President (so that they represent the people, since the people directly elect the President through popular vote) from the Supreme Leader. He said that "the issue of non-compliance with the Iranian rules and regulations is the biggest problem that the country is currently faced with" and that he wished to put in place ways to enforce the laws further, and that it was also important to bring an end to keeping the populace uninformed about government matters. Among his policies were creation of a free environment for the flow of information and corrections to the national budget.
He wanted to promote the creation of private, non-governmental TV networks and stop the operation of the "
Moral Police
Moral police is an umbrella category of vigilante groups which act to enforce a code of morality in India. Some of India's laws, and some actions of police forces in India are also considered to be instances of moral policing. The target of mor ...
". He has spoken about his opposition to massive changes in ministries, which he claims is what
Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), has done.
The
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...
reported that Mousavi "called for greater personal freedoms in Iran and criticized the ban on private television channels", but "refused to back down from
, saying it was "for peaceful purposes". Regarding the Iranian nuclear program, his plan includes a reduction of the cost by opposing radical approaches while maintaining what he sees as "Iran's right to civilian nuclear technology".
Mousavi has stated that giving up the country's nuclear program would be "irreparable" and that the Iranian people support the nuclear program.
"No one in Iran will accept suspension," Mousavi has said, adding that if elected, his policy would be to work to provide "guarantees" that Tehran's nuclear activities would never divert to non-peaceful aims.
On 30 May, Mousavi pledged that if elected he would amend "
" against women, and take other measures in favour of women's rights and equality.