MIR-HOSEIN MUSAVI: FROM WARTIME REVOLUTIONARY TO 21st CENTURY REFORMIST

Number 32 ● 11 June 2009

Mir-Hosein Musavi, has emerged as President Ahmadinejad's principal rival in Friday's (June 12^th) election.  Musavi, 67-years old, was born in 1941 in Khameneh, in the East Azerbaijan province. He is a painter and an architect who became a politician. He is believed to be strongly influenced by the late Dr. 'Ali Shariati, one of the most influential non-clerical ideologues of the 1978-1979 Islamic Revolution.

Shortly after the revolution Musavi joined the Islamic Republican Party, Iran's dominant political body until its dissolution in 1987, and served as the editor-in-chief of its mouthpiece, Jomhuri-ye Eslami daily newspaper. For a short period, which coincided with the American hostage crisis, he served as Foreign Minister.  In 1981 he was appointed as Prime Minister. His appointment was opposed by the president at the time, 'Ali Khamene’i, who supported the conservative ‘Ali-Akbar Velayati. The Islamic-left dominated Majlis (parliament), however, rejected Khamenei's first choice and accepted Musavi, who was held in high esteem by the leader of the revolution, Imam Khomeini.  Musavi has denied being involved in Iran's "cultural revolution," during which Iran shut its universities for two years, forced female students to wear head scarves, and purged university faculties of professors who were viewed as Western.  However, the notable Iranian reformist intellectual and political thinker ‘Abdolkarim Soroush, who was involved in the purges, has called for Musavi to honestly explain his involvement in these events.

Musavi served as Prime Minister until 1989. Most of his premiership coincided with the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and he is still respected for his successful management of Iran's economy during that turbulent period. Despite the immense war expenses and the sanctions imposed by the United States and several Western countries against Iran, he managed to maintain the Iranian economy's relative stability while keeping the rate of inflation low. During that period he supported a kind of Islamic socialism with state control over the economy. He was also one of the main architects of the nationalization drive and created a coupon system to ensure Iranian citizens' basic needs. Hussein Alaei, an influential retired admiral in the Revolutionary Guard Corps, who had extensive contact with Musavi in those years said that Musavi "created a war economy that helped us fight Saddam Hussein," adding "The country was stable, inflation was low . . . there was war, but nobody was hungry.  We all respect him for his management" (Washington Post, June 8^th, 2009).

Following the constitutional changes which abolished the post of Prime Minister in 1989, Musavi retired from politics almost entirely for nearly twenty years. He continued, however, to serve as a member of the Expediency Council and the Supreme Council for the Cultural Islamic Revolution and since 1999  he

has been the president of the Iranian Academy for Arts.  In 1996 Musavi rejected an offer to become the reformists' presidential candidate in the 1997 elections, paving the way for Mohammad Khatami's candidacy. During Khatami's administration Musavi served as a senior advisor to Khatami. Before the 2005 presidential elections Musavi declined another proposal to become a presidential candidate. This year, Musavi's campaign has benefited from the backing and endorsement of the enormously popular former president Khatami.

Musavi is supported by all reformist groups, except the National Trust Party of Mehdi Karubi, including the two main reformist political parties: The Participation Front (Jebhe-ye Mosharekat) and the Islamic Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution (on Karubi, see Iran Pulse#30). He also enjoys wide support among the educated middle class as well as among the younger generation, particularly women. Being of Azeri-Turkish origin and speaking fluent Turkish, he is expected to do well among the Azeri-populated provinces in northwestern Iran, as well.  In addition, 59 former Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders signed a public endorsement of Musavi's candidacy that was published in the Iranian daily newspaper E'temad-e Melli on May 30^th. 

He is married to Zahra Rahnavard, who has aroused great interest during his election campaign both in Iran and in the West. In 1998 Rahnavard, who holds a doctoral degree in political science, became the first female university chancellor in the Islamic Republic and served as the head of the "Zahra" university for women in Tehran. She is believed to exert a strong influence on her husband, who rarely appears in public without her.  Perhaps as a result of Rahnavard's influence, young women in Iran have flocked to Musavi's campaign, and Musavi's campaign film, produced by Majid Majidi, was entitled "The Green Wave," which was named after a wave of green wristbands and outfits worn by Musavi's young supporters.  Green has been Musavi's campaign color, and his newspaper is called Ghalam-e Sabz (www.ghalamnews.ir), which means the "green word."

Musavi campaign has focused on the idea that Iran has strayed from Khomeini's original principles of unity and equality under President Ahmadinejad (see also, Iran Pulse#33).  Musavi claims that Ahmadinejad has divided Iranian society along class and cultural lines. Musavi has campaigned on economic issues and has actively addressed himself to Iran's economic problems under Ahmadinjed: increasing inflation, high unemployment figures, and widening gaps between rich and poor. In Musavi's campaign debates, first against Ahmadinejad (June 3^rd), which was watched by an estimated 15 million viewers on Iranian television, and then against Mohsen Reza'i (June 4^th), and finally against Karubi (June 7^th), he has provided detailed references to programs he successfully executed when he was Prime Minister during the Iran-Iraq War, such as projects to control infectious diseases, lower infant mortality rate, and reduce the female death rate from childbirth. He emphasized that these government programs were implemented and successful despite Iran's enormous war expenses and international isolation.  He has repeatedly challenged the incumbent by asking where Iran's massive oil revenues have gone under President Ahmadinejad. In his debate against Mohsen Reza'i, Musavi said, "Dear Iranian people, I am not here for power. I have been silent for twenty years. Now, if I have broken the silence I would not use every trick in the book to become president. I was worried that the country has got no manners and no money anymore. I was worried that irrational management is running the country. I am here to protect human values. I am here to stop superstition and false statistics. I am here to restore statesmen's transparency and to help Iran make progress." (IRTV3 – BBC World Monitoring Service, June 4^th, 2009)

In his debate with Karubi, Musavi read from his book, The Government of Hope for a Better Future, and referred to the book's plans for improving the status of women, life in the provinces, mass transportation, insurance, pensions, health and welfare, the environment, and changes in education system.  Musavi has experienced enormous popularity among Iran's under-30 demographic, and particularly among young women.  He has said that he would promote monogamy and create employment.  He has promised to eliminate poverty in villages. He said he has real plans for improving the status of teachers and providing facilities for workers by improving their health and insurance facilities. He has talked about helping production units which are on the verge of bankruptcy by waiving their tax payments, for example, and he has claimed he will support privatization and free market forces.  To create job opportunities, Musavi has argued that the country's national production would have to be increased and entrepreneurs encouraged and supported in order to create job opportunities. Musavi said that he would create organizations to improve Iran's job market and help the unemployed find jobs. He also advocated development in the housing industry and using the oil industry as an engine for economic growth.  Musavi also emphasized the need to fight corruption in the current economy, adding, "During the past four years we have continuously talked about the oil mafia and corruption. However, in practice we haven't witnessed anyone being arrested and tried in that regard in the country." (Islamic Republic of Iran News Network – BBC World Monitoring Service, June 5^th, 2009)  It remains to be seen how Musavi would reconcile his ambitious social improvement projects in a market-based economy, which needs to attract foreign investment.  The implementation of Article 44 of the constitution (privatization) has been a contentious issue between the candidates; Musavi believes that the government should be responsible for establishing organizations to create the right private sector economic environment to attract foreign investment.

Musavi has also criticized Ahmadinejad for his "extremist" foreign policy which Musavi argues has robbed Iran of its dignity and honor in the international community.  Musavi has suggested that a less confrontational approach would be the best way forward: "We have to lay the foundations for good interaction and cooperation with important world countries, including European countries. This can be done through gradual trust-building, talks and negotiations."  Musavi's opinion on improving ties with  the   world  matches his approach to  managing Iran's nuclear progress: "…we should   firstly reduce tensions between us and other countries on an international level and build trust. And we should present a softer image of ourselves to the world, not a  rough  image  that   may  cause   problems   in  our diplomacy.  We should avoid  slogans, disputes  and discussions which may cost a  lot  for  the country. In addition to that, we should pay attention to the fact that we have very few close friends across the world and we have many enemies. There are a lot of neutral countries, too. We have to have more friends on an international level. This is a basic factor. In addition we have to create a strategic depth through our regional policies. This will enable us to make progress in this field." (IRIN4 – BBC World Monitoring Service, June 2^nd, 2009). He has made it clear, however, that he would continue to push ahead with Iran's nuclear drive if elected. Musavi has also slammed Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial, asserting that it has undermined Iran's international standing.

Mir-Hosein Musavi is a serious contender in Friday's election, and his candidacy and campaign have generated a great deal of public enthusiasm in the run-up to the voting.  However, it is important to note that there has never been a one-term president in Iran since 1981. What remains to be seen is whether apathetic young people, who stayed away from the polls in 2005, will decide to vote in large numbers.  Young women voters are potentially a particularly important group.  The perception is that a high turn-out might swing the results in favor of Musavi or at least enable him to force a second round of elections on June 19th■

*Brandon Friedman is a research fellow of the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University.

*Raz Zimmt is a research fellow at the Centre for Iranian Studies and a PhD Candidate of the Graduate School of Historical Studies at Tel Aviv University.

The Alliance Center for Iranian Studies (ACIS)

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Iran Pulse 32 ● June 11, 2009 © All rights reserved.