44 Facts About Mir-Hossein Mousavi

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was a reformist candidate for the 2009 presidential election and eventually the leader of the opposition in the post-election unrest.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was the last Prime Minister of Iran prior to the elimination of that position in the 1989 constitutional changes; he then went into semi-retirement for the next 20 years.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi remains a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution; he has not participated in their meetings for years, which is interpreted by political analysts and commentators as a sign of his disapproval.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi is currently under house arrest along with his wife Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi is an ethnic Azerbaijani, whose family originated from Tabriz.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi's father, Mir-Ismail, was a tea merchant from Tabriz.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi grew up in Khameneh, and moved to Tehran following his graduation from high school in 1958.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi is a relative of fellow Khameneh native Ali Khamenei: Mir-Hossein Mousavi's grandmother is Khamenei's paternal aunt.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi earned his undergraduate degree in architecture from the National University of Tehran, and in 1969 was awarded his master's degree in architecture from the National University of Tehran, focusing primarily on traditional Iranian architecture.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was among the student activists who regularly attended Ali Shariati's lectures at Hosseiniyeh Ershad of Tehran, where Mir-Hossein Mousavi exhibited his artwork under the pseudonym Hossein Rah'jo.

In 1969, Mir-Hossein Mousavi married Zahra Rahnavard, a fellow university student who specialized in sculpture, and was among the well-known students of Ali Shariati.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was imprisoned for organizing street protests against the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi initially participated in the establishment of the Jonbesh-e Mosalmanan-e Mobarez alongside Habibollah Peyman which eventually led him to join ranks with Mohammad Beheshti, who was a close associate of the revolution leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, and abandoned his previous connections with Ali Shariati.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi became the political secretary of the party, and chief editor of Jomhouri-e Eslami, the party's official newspaper.

On 15 August 1981, as part of the restructuring of the government in Rajai's cabinet, Mir-Hossein Mousavi was appointed foreign minister.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi held the post until 15 December 1981, when he received the higher appointment of prime minister.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi put forward Ali Akbar Velayati as his prime minister, but the Iranian parliament did not give him the vote of confidence, and he was defeated with a vote of 80 to 74.

The conflicts between Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who belonged to the left wing of the Islamic Republic, with Ali Khamenei, who belonged to the right wing of the Islamic Republic, continued during their eight years of shared governance.

However, his involvement in security matters remained less clear, and it was disputed whether or not Mir-Hossein Mousavi was involved in the killing of thousands of dissidents and minorities in Kurdistan and Mazandaran during this time.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi guided the country through its war with Iraq, and earned popular acclaim for his stewardship of the national economy.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was not invited to be a participant in the new government headed by Rafsanjani, and disappeared from the public sphere.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was asked about the mass executions inside Iran's prison at the time he was in office.

When Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, died in 1989, Mir-Hossein Mousavi was no longer welcome in the government.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi has been a member of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution since 1996.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was the political adviser of president Hashemi Rafsanjani and senior adviser of president Khatami.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was a professor at Shahid Beheshti University and later joined the Academic staff of Tarbiat Modares University.

Mir-Hossein 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.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was considered the leading candidate from the reformist alliance to run in the 2005 Iranian presidential election.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi 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".

Mir-Hossein Mousavi started his campaign from the center of Iranian politics; over time, he shifted more towards the left by declaring his support for reforms.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi's 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.

Mir-Hossein 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, as well as transfer the control of the law-enforcement forces to the President from the Supreme Leader.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi 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 important to bring an end to keeping the populace uninformed about government matters.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi wanted to promote the creation of private, non-governmental TV networks and stop the operation of the "Moral Police".

Mir-Hossein Mousavi has spoken about his opposition to massive changes in ministries, which he claims is what Ahmadinejad has done.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi has stated that giving up the country's nuclear program would be "irreparable" and that the Iranian people support the nuclear program.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi said that he would seek to disband the so-called morality police force, and ensure that Iranian women are treated equally, with the ability to attain financial empowerment and to serve at the highest levels of decision making bodies.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi directly addressed activating foreign policy to boost national interest by reducing tensions with other nations.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi condemned Ahmadinejad's attitude toward The Holocaust, and condemned the killing of Jews in the Holocaust.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi has claimed victory, and called for his supporters to celebrate it, sparking large protests as a result.

Ali Mir-Hossein Mousavi died on 27 December 2009, during the 2009 Iranian election protests, when he was reportedly shot in either the back or the chest by security forces during demonstrations against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's contested election win.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi neither recognizes the current government as legitimate, nor is likely to receive permission; the movement was named a "path" in order bypass this law.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi emphasized that existent, autonomous social networks in the community are part of this movement:.

In 2019, Mir-Hossein Mousavi was given the right to exit his home once a week.