Seyed Mahmood Hosseini election as one of the reformist candidates from Isfahan, but disqualified by the Council of Guardians. During the protests about the 2009 Iran presidential election, Seyed Mahmood Hosseini signed an open letter to the top Iranian Shia clerics prepared by Mohammad Khatami, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karoubi and some of the renowned reformist figures, by pointing out the arrests after the election, as being the reference and support of the great nation of Iran, to remind the government about the damaging outcomes of their unlawful acts. Hosseini was appointed to Isfahan province governor on August 6, 2002 and held the
2009 Iranian presidential election movement attempted to unite behind a single candidate; former President Mohammad Khatami was the leading opponent to Ahmadinejad in some opinion polls, until he withdrew and endorsed former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Former Speaker of the Majlis Mehdi Karroubi, another Reformist, was also running; as was the former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Mohsen Rezaee, a conservative with a reputation for political pragmatism. The election marked a return to public spotlight for Mousavi, who had not received much attention since he served as Prime Minister in the 1980s. Reformist opinions galvanized around him as the election grew nearer. He