Key Player: Mir Hussein Mousavi

I am going to start a series of profiles of Key Players in the current unrest starting with perhaps the most important man in the opposition movement.

Mir Hussein Mousavi has emerged as the de-facto leader of the opposition reform movement in Iran. He was a presidential candidate in the recent elections and the leading opponent of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His presidential campaign color of green has been adopted as the symbol of the reform movement in Iran. After the election which was widely seen as fraudulent, Mousavi refused to accept the results and has challenged the legitimacy of the current government. Mousavi and those around him have been some of the biggest organizers of the current protests against the regime.

Mousavi was a strong supporter of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and he helped create the Islamic Republic. He served as the last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981-1989 during the Iran-Iraq war. The position of Prime Minister was eliminated in 1989 partially because Mousavi would often clash with then President and current Supreme Leader Khamenei. Mousavi has been given credit for his handling of the economy during the difficult years of the war. Some have criticized him for not speaking out against human rights abuses by others in the government. However Mousavi retired from politics after his term as Prime Minister and many believe because of deep disagreements with the direction of the regime. He spent 20 years in private practice as an architect and as a professor away from the limelight only to emerge for the recent presidential election.

Mousavi has always been a devout Muslim, but his politics have been influenced both by the left and by more liberal views of Islam. During the campaign, Mousavi has spoken about bringing freedom for the people of Iran and has criticized Ahmadinejad for leading the country to dictatorship. He remains one of the central figures of the reform movement and one of the fiercest opponents of the current regime.

p.s. His first name is not Mir but rather Hussein. Mir is a title indicating that he is descendent of Muhammad.