2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign and Abdolhamid Diyalameh [Ph.D. holder and an MP] went to their lengths to remove Mousavi and Rahnavard from the political structure of the government but both were suspiciously martyred. After 20 years of absence from the political scene of Iran, on March 9, 2009 he announced his candidacy in the 2009 Iranian Presidential election. Mousavi refused to run for President in the 1997 Presidential election, which caused the reformists to turn to Mohammad Khatami, who won a landslide victory. Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, explained in an interview that the reason for her husband not running in the 1997 election had
Timeline of the 2009 Iranian election protests watched by about 90,000 spectators and for the sixth straight time ended in a tie. The spectators accused the teams of collusion. They also chanted "Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein" in support of the opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. The Slogans could be heard on State TV. Police had previously warned against any political activity, even cutting off cellphone service in the area, and some people were reportedly arrested. Unrelated to the Tehran derby, 18 students who were part of a pro-democracy movement were arrested in Tehran. The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) wrote a letter to Ayatollah