Mir-Hossein Mousavi
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Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh میرحسین موسوی خامنه | |
 Mousavi in 2009. | |
| In office 31 October 1981 – 3 August 1989 | |
| President | Ali Khamenei |
| Leader | Ruhollah Khomeini Ali Khamenei |
| Preceded by | Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani(Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Born | 29 September 1941 Khameneh, Iran |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | Zahra Rahnavard |
| Alma mater | Shahid Beheshti University |
| Religion | Shia Islam |
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh (میرحسین موسوی خامنه) (born 29 September 1941) is an Iranianconservative reformist politician, painter and architect who served as the fifth and last Prime Minister of the Islamic republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Mousavi is currently the president of the Iranian Academy of Arts.
He was the last Prime Minister in Iran before the constitutional changes which removed the post of prime minister. Before that, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and the High Council of Cultural Revolution. However, as of 2009, he has not participated in their meetings for a long time which is interpreted by political analysts and commentators as a sign of his disapproval. Mousavi holds a Masters degree in Architecture from Shahid Beheshti University. In the early years of the revolution, Mousavi was the Editor-in-Chief of the official newspaper of the Islamic Republic Party, the Jomhouri-e Eslami (Islamic Republic) newspaper.
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Early life and career
Mir-Hossein Mousavi was born on 29 September 1941 in Khameneh, East Azarbaijan, Iran, toMir-Esma'il Mousavi (Persian: میراسماعیل موسوی), an Iranian merchant from Tabriz.
Following his graduation from high school, Mousavi moved to Tehran in 1958. In the National University of Tehran (now Shahid Beheshti University), he majored in architecture and graduated with a BA in 1969. Later, in 1983, Mousavi specialised in traditional Islamic architecture.
Mousavi is married to Zahra Rahnavard, a former chancellor of Alzahra University and political advisor to Iran's former President Mohammad Khatami.
Premiership
Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who has a reputation for "being honest, humble and a supporter of the masses", [1] served as the Prime Minister between 1981 and 1989. He is respected by many Iranians. Some analysts across the political spectrum praise his handling of Iran's economy and protecting the country during the Iran-Iraq War which coincided with his premiership. He is further widely respected for his efforts to end Iran's international isolation.[2]
Mousavi pioneered the coupon/voucher-based economy during his premiership, which resulted in a fair distribution of goods among people during the Iran-Iraq War when the economy was weakening due to international sanctions by Western powers.
Past elections
Mousavi refused to run for President 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. One of the memorable tactics of the 1997 presidential election campaign was the posters containing Khatami's picture alongside Mousavi and his support for Khatami's bid, which is regarded by commentators as one major cause of the support that Khatami enjoyed amongst the working-class Iranians. Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, explained in an interview[citation needed] that the reason for him not running in the 1997 elections was some discouraging messages from "higher officials", which refer to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and/or the then President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. During Khatami's administration, Mousavi served as the Senior Adviser to the President.
Mousavi was considered as the leading candidate of the reformist alliance to run in the Iranian presidential election, 2005. However, on 12 October 2004 he officially declined the proposal after a meeting with President Mohammad Khatami and the two other major members of the moderate Association of Combatant Clerics, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammad Mousavi-Khoiniha.
2009 presidential election
After 20 years of political silence, on 9 March 2009 Mousavi announced his bid to run in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, which has since been welcomed by many Iranians who still recall his time as Prime Minister. His intention to contest the election in June has been immensely welcomed by trade unions, labour associations, grass-roots activists on both sides of the political spectrum and working class Iranians who feel being neglected for far too long by different administrations. Mousavi is well remembered by many Iranians for managing the country during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and for his very effective steering of the country out of an economic recession. He has stated that his main goals are: to institutionalise 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 calls "an alms-based economy".[3] Mousavi poses a serious pro-reform challenge to the country's hard-line establishment and the current conservative PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad whom he has often criticized for his alleged economic mismanagement, stating that when Iran "was making profits from the high prices of oil, did he (Ahmadinejad) envisage a situation when the prices would fall?".
Iranian reformers, who favour improving Iran's ties with the West and loosening social restrictions at home, view Mousavi as a viable challenge the current conservative President Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; they believe that the latter has lost popularity even among conservatives because of his perceived mishandling of the economy, his limiting of civil liberties and his perilous steering of Iran's foreign policy; some Iranians believe that his uncompromising anti-US and anti-Israel rhetoric have increased Iran's isolation and damaged Iran's standing in the world.
On March 16, 2009, the former Iranian President Khatami withdrew from the election race in support of Mir-Hossein Mousavi.[4]
Goals for presidential term
Mousavi has on numerous occasions indicated his wish to change the constitution whereby to remove the existing ban on the private owership 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.[5] He has 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 wishes to put in place ways to enforce the laws further,[6] and that it is also important to bring an end to keeping people in the dark about government matters.
Platform
Domestic policies
In his first press conference since the start of Iranian New Year in March 2009, Mousavi stated his policies on how he will govern the country.[7] Among his policies are creation of a free environment for the flow of information and corrections to the national budget.[8] He is concerned about creating private, non-governmental TV networks[9] and stopping the operation of "Moral Police".[10] He has spoken about his opposition to massive changes in ministries compared to what he claims Ahmadinejad has done. Regarding the Iranian nuclear program, his plan includes reducing the cost by opposing radical approaches while maintaining what he sees as Iran's right.[11]
He has also vowed to review laws that discriminate against women in Iran if he wins the upcoming election. He has stated that he would seek to disband the so called morality police force of Iran and make sure that women in Iran are treated equally, have the ability to attain financial empowerment and highest levels of decision making bodies.[12]
He asked for Khatami's support in his campaign. He also welcomed Karoubi's presence. Mousavi has criticized distributing "free potato" to people by the government, and called it a clear violation of law.
Mousavi denied the claims that his candidacy is per request of Supreme Leader Khamenei, and asserted he had not sought Khamenei's approval beforehand. Some had claimed that his candidacy was a means to stop the other reformist hopeful, former President Mohammad Khatami, from proceeding with his candidacy.
Foreign policies
Mousavi has directly addressed activating foreign policy to boost national interest by reducing tensions with other nations. This includes negotiating with U.S. President Barack Obama if "his actions are in keeping with his words".[8] His other notable assertions were when he called Ahmadinejad's approach to the issue of Holocaust a wrong one. Mousavi condemned the killing of Jews in the Holocaust, a much different stance than Ahmadinejad.[11]
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
References
- ^ "Iran’s ex-PM seen as candidate". FT. January 16, 2009.
- ^ "Mir-Hossein: Attempt to Exit 20-year long Isolation? (میر حسین موسوی؛ تلاش برای خروج از انزوای ۲۰ ساله؟)," (inPersian). BBC. 03 March 2009.
- ^ "Moussavi officially joins presidential fray". PressTV. 2009-03-10. Retrieved on 2009-04-13.
- ^ "Khatami will soon withdraw candidacy in favor of Mousavi: source". payvand. 2009-03-15. Retrieved on 2009-04-13.
- ^ "Mousavi backs private TV, urges change recognition". PressTV. 2009-03-31. Retrieved on 2009-04-13.
- ^ "Moussavi warns against governmental cover-up". PressTV. 2009-04-03. Retrieved on 2009-04-13.
- ^ Etemad Melli Newspaper (887): 1-2, Saturday April 7, 2009, http://www.roozna.com
- ^ a b "The Answer To Ahmadinejad". Spiegel. 04/27/2009.
- ^ "Mousavi backs private TV, urges change recognition". PressTV. 31 March 2009.
- ^ "Mousavi: Moral police, provincial visits irrelevant". PressTV. April 09 2009.
- ^ a b "Iran's Reform Candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Says Open to U.S. Negotiations". Fox News. April 06 2009.
- ^ "Iran candidate Mousavi backs women's rights". BBC News. May 31 2009.
External links
- Vote for Change - Vote for Mir Hossein Mousavi, a promotional video by a number of Iranian motion-picture celebrities, including Dariush Mehrjoui, Kiumars Pourahmad, Manijeh Hekmat, Masoud Kimiai and Mohsen Makhmalbaf: YouTube (9 min 54 sec).
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Few Notes On Iran's 'Election'
I admit to being surprised at the kind of coverage the Iranian elections, scheduled for Friday, June 12th are receiving. For the most part, the dinosaur press is treating this as if it were an actual western-style elections where the results seriously matter.
There are two contestants for the presidency, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the challenger, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. Neither one of them would be allowed to run for office without the express permission of the Supreme Council of Guardians and its leader Ayatollah Khamenei. That's where the real power in Iran is situated,and no one would be allowed to run for president unless he clearly understood that and agreed to it.
Mousavi may be being painted as a 'moderate' by some of the western press, but nothing could be further from the truth, as the above clip ought to make clear...he attacks Ahmadinejad for releasing the British sailors Iran took hostage rather than executing them.It might also be noted that one of Mousavi's chief backers is none other than the 'moderate' former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rasfanjani, who famously said that the 'Israel problem' could be solved by one nuclear bomb.
Mousavi is simply a member of the old order that the Mullahs have trotted out in case they decide that it might be better to have a new face up front instead of Ahmadinejad to buy a bit more time until Iran's nukes are completed.
While Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is perceive by many in the west as Iran's 'Hitler' who's
ouster would be a sign of a less confrontational Iran, the truth of the matter is that nothing Ahmadinejad has said or done was performed without express orders form Khamenei and the Supreme Council. If they have decided to make Ahmadinejad a scapegoat and Mousavi takes over the presidency, the same people are still going to be in charge. The only difference will be a different dummy on the ventriloquist's lap.
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