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Iran's Promising Presidential Contender

[Japan Times] Alireza Nader - Iran's presidential race just got more interesting, with former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi throwing his hat in the ring and former President Mohammad Khatami withdrawing his. This development poses the most significant challenge yet to current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - and a potential opportunity to alter the relationship between Iran and the West. Mousavi, who believes that Iran is in "poor shape," is perceived by many of the Iranian elite to possess the revolutionary and ideological credentials to run against Islamist fundamentalists such as Ahmadinejad. At the same time, he is associated with Iranian reformists, who believe that Iran must enact major domestic and foreign policy changes to escape its economic crisis and international isolation. Mousavi was an important part of the revolutionary movement that overthrew the Shah in 1979. Widely viewed as a capable technocrat, he served as prime minister from 1981 to 1989, when the post was abolished. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is wary of Mousavi, who served as prime minister during Khamenei's presidency in the 1980s. The two were often at odds over economic, social and religious policies. The writer is an analyst at the RAND Corporation.
2009-03-27 06:00:00
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