Mir-Hossein Mousavi nominated Mousavi as his foreign minister, however Banisadr opposed the nomination and Mousavi was not appointed. On 15 August 1981, as part of the restructuring of the government in Rajai's cabinet, Mousavi was appointed foreign minister. He held the post until 15 December 1981, when he received the higher appointment of prime minister. In August 1981, President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar were assassinated in an explosion. Ali Khamenei was then elected as the third president of Iran in the Iranian presidential election, October 1981. He put forward Ali Akbar Velayati as his prime minister, but the Iranian
Hossein Shariatmadari Mir Hossein Mousavi was trying to "escape punishment for murdering innocent people, holding riots, cooperating with foreigners and acting as America's fifth column inside the country" and called for Mousavi and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami to be tried in court for "horrible crimes and treason." In 2009, during the first contested presidential elections, Shariatmadari was announced that Mohammad Khatami would risk the same fate of Benazir Bhutto if he was elected. After the elections, alongside the Green Party protests, Shariatmadari accused Mir Hossein Mousavi of being a fifth column of the US and causing the deaths of many people.