Prime ministership of Mir-Hossein Mousavi premiership, ended on the same date. He was the 79th and the last prime minister of Iran, since the constitutional revolution in 1906. Mousavi was not invited to be a participant in the new government headed by Rafsanjani, and disappeared from the public sphere. Prime ministership of Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khamenei was a key figure in the Islamic revolution in Iran and a close confidant of Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini appointed Khamenei to the post of Tehran's Friday prayers in the autumn of 1989, after forced resignation of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri from the post, when he criticised Khomeini for torture of
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