Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of Iran’s most prominent opposition figures and a former presidential candidate, called for “radical changes” in a political system facing a “crisis of legitimacy” in light of the protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini a few months ago. radical change outlined by the Women Life Freedom Movement, in a message posted on its website and circulated yesterday by local media.
Mousavi, who has been under house arrest for almost 12 years, refers to the main slogan of the protesters who took to the streets since September 16, after the death of Amini (22) after she was arrested by the vice police in Tehran on the basis of non-compliance with strict dress codes.
And he believed that the recent protest movements are taking place in light of “overlapping economic, environmental, social, legal, cultural and media crises.”
Mousavi, who served as prime minister from 1981 to 1989, called for a “free and fair referendum on the need for a new constitution” for the country, given that the current formula of the political system is “unsustainable.” Mousavi, 80, ran in the 2009 presidential election, which resulted in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mousavi and another candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, condemned massive fraud in this presidential election and led protest movements known as the Green Movement. In early 2011, two dissidents and their wives were placed under house arrest.
