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Presidential elections were held in Iran on 12 June 2009,[1][2] with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes counted, Ahmadinejad had won the election with 62% of the votes cast,[3] and that Mir-Hossein Mousavi had received 34% of the votes cast.[4][5] There were large irregularities in the results and people were surprised by them, which resulted in protests of millions of Iranians, across every Iranian city and around the world and the emergence of the opposition Iranian Green Movement.[6][failed verification]
Many Iranian figures directly supported the protests and declared the votes were fraudulent. Among them, many film directors like Jafar Panahi[7] (who was consequently banned from making movies for 20 years and condemned to six years imprisonment),[8][9] Mohammad Rasoulof (also condemned to 6 years imprisonment),[10] actors and actresses like Pegah Ahangarani (who was consequently imprisoned),[11] Ramin Parchami (who was consequently condemned to one year imprisonment),[12] sportsmen like the whole Iran national football team who wore green wristbands in their game against South Korea to support the movement,[13][14] scholars like Mostafa Tajzadeh, Mohsen Aminzadeh, Akbar Ganji, Mohsen Sazegara, many religious figures like Mohsen Kadivar, Grand Ayatollah Yousef Saanei, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Mohammad Dastgheib Shirazi, traditional singers like Mohammad Reza Shajarian, defected Basij and Iranian Revolutionary Guards like Amir Farshad Ebrahimi and those who confessed with covered faces.[15][16]
The European Union and several western countries expressed concern over alleged irregularities during the vote,[17] and many analysts and journalists from the United States and United Kingdom news media voiced doubts about the authenticity of the results.[18][19][20]
Mousavi issued a statement accusing the Interior Ministry, which was responsible for conducting the election, of widespread election fraud and urged his supporters to engage in peaceful protests. He also lodged an official appeal with the Guardian Council for new and more transparent elections. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the nation to unite behind Ahmadinejad, labeling his victory as a "divine assessment".[21] Khamenei then announced there would be an investigation into vote-rigging claims.[22]
On 16 June, the Guardian Council announced it would recount 10% of the votes and concluded there were no irregularities at all, dismissing all election complaints.[23][24] However, Mousavi stated that a recount would not be sufficient since he claimed 14 million unused ballots were missing, giving the Interior Ministry an opportunity to manipulate the results.[25] On 19 June, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced the pro-Mousavi demonstrations as illegal,[26] and protests the next day were met with stiff resistance from government forces, with many reported deaths.[27]
The Green Movement of Iran continued its peaceful protests until 14 February 2011 and radicalized itself demanding a total regime change and departure of Khamenei from power.[28]
Background
Ahmadinejad became President of Iran after the 2005 election. The losing candidates at that time claimed irregularities at the polls, but the charges were not investigated.[21] A formal protest to the Guardian Council was made and the group dismissed it without comment.[29] His victory had surprised most observers of the campaign.[30] At that time the reformist camp had mostly either boycotted elections entirely or held back out of disillusionment with past lack of progress.[31] The voting for the 2009 election was scheduled for 12 June 2009 and ended up being extended until midnight that day because the turnout was unexpectedly high.[32] Voting ended up proceeding four hours longer than originally scheduled.[33]
The President is elected by direct vote, however candidates for the presidency must be approved by the 12-member Council of Guardians. Candidates need to win a majority (more than half) to become President. Iran has a two-round system: if none of the candidates wins the majority in the first round, the top two candidates will go to a run-off. The first round was held on 12 June 2009; the run-off would have been held one week later, on 19 June 2009.[34] All Iranian citizens of age 18 and up are eligible to vote. Both the Iranian Center for Statistics and the Iranian Ministry of the Interior stated that there were around 46.2 million eligible voters.[35]
Candidates
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| Government of Islamic Republic of Iran |
On 20 May 2009, the Guardian Council officially announced a list of approved candidates, while rejecting a number of registered nominees.[36] Only four candidates were approved by the Guardian Council, out of the 476 men and women who had applied to seek the presidency of Iran in the 2009 election.[37]
Approved candidates
- Conservatives[citation needed]
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, incumbent
- Mohsen Rezaee, former Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and current secretary of the Expediency Council. Supported by the Islamic Society of Engineers
- Reformists[citation needed]
- Mehdi Karroubi, former Speaker of the Majlis
- Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the last Prime Minister of Iran (Campaign)
Rejected candidates
- Conservatives
- Rafat Bayat, female Majlis representative from Zanjan[38]
- Independents
- Akbar Alami, former Majlis representative from Tabriz[39]
- Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi, former Majlis representative[40]
Withdrawn candidates
- Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, endorsed Mousavi. (See article on Khatami presidential campaign for details.)[41]
Declined candidates
The following people were said to be possible candidates in the election, but did not register within the five days allowed for registration.[42]
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former President and chairman of the Assembly of Experts, would have been over 75 years old on the election day and therefore ineligible to run by election law.
- Conservatives
- Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Mayor of Tehran[43]
- Ali Larijani, speaker of the Majlis[44]
- Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, former Minister of the Interior[45]
- Ali Akbar Velayati, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1981–97[44]
- Reformists
- Mohammad Reza Aref, former First Vice President
- Masoumeh Ebtekar[46][47]
- Abdollah Nouri, former Minister of Interior, former Speaker of Tehran City Council[48]
Campaign
Background
The incumbent was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian reform 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.[49] 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.[35] 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.[50] Reformist opinions galvanized around him as the election grew nearer.[32] He became the symbol for a groundswell of youthful democratic sentiment, despite his personal background and political views.[51]
The Telegraph described the campaign as "unusually open by Iranian standards, but also highly acrimonious".[19] It was marked by heated rhetoric between the incumbent and his challengers. Mousavi and two other candidates said Ahmadinejad lied about the state of the economy, which was suffering from high inflation and a fall in oil revenues from last year's record levels. Ahmadinejad responded by comparing his opponents to Adolf Hitler, adding they could be jailed for their comments: "No one has the right to insult the president, and they did it. And this is a crime. The person who insulted the president should be punished, and the punishment is jail ... Such insults and accusations against the government are a return to Hitler's methods, to repeat lies and accusations ... until everyone believes those lies".[50]
Debates about the economy played the biggest role in the campaign, with the global economic recession looming in peoples' minds.[35] About one in five Iranians lived under the poverty line, inflation was about 25% and unemployment over 12.5 percent[52] (some unofficial estimates reported 30%).[25] Mousavi advocated further privatisation of the economy towards a free market, with a tight monetary policy in comparison to Ahmadinejad's populist fiscal policy. Ahmadinejad's measures to fight poverty were a central issue of his campaign.[30][53] Mousavi drew his electoral base from the middle and upper classes, while Ahmadinejad drew support from the urban poor and rural residents.[35] Civil servants, police officers, pensioners and others dependent on the government, also contributed to Ahmadinejad's base.[54] He turned the financial support of the business class opposing him into a theme of attack.[52] BBC News described his campaign as "one that foresees the death of capitalism".[55]
Mousavi criticized Ahmadinejad for diplomatically isolating Iran by denying the Holocaust and making anti western speeches. He opposed the government's current strict enforcement of Islamic dress and social behavior,[53] calling for an end to the regime's 'Vice Police'.[56] He advocated letting private individuals and groups own Iranian media.[30] Both candidates strongly supported further development of the Iranian nuclear program.[53] However, Mousavi advocated a less combative and tense tone with other nations about it.[50] He floated the idea of an international consortium overseeing uranium enrichment in Iran.[30] The BBC stated about Mousavi: "n foreign affairs, he seems to be offering little change on major issues".[35] Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow, Mohamad Bazzi, stated: "if Mousavi wins, it could create a new opening for dialogue with the United States. Ahmadinejad's continued presence would be a major obstacle".[32] Robert Fisk also remarked a Mousavi victory would mean closer ties with the U.S.[30]
The campaign was the most expensive in the Islamic Republic's history, with the two main candidates spending over tens of millions of dollars in a bid to convince voters. Funds were spent on, among other things, mass distribution of digital propaganda such as CDs and DVDs. Another interesting phenomenon taking place during the campaign was a dramatic rise in text messages sent to Iranian cell phone subscribers – between 60 and 110 million.[52] Mousavi adopted the traditional Islamic color of green as his campaign theme. Young male supporters wore green ribbons tied around their wrists and young female supporters wore green headscarves. Activists used the term 'change' as their primary slogan, chanting "green change for Iran", "together for change" and "vote for change".[57]
Debates
From 2 to 8 June 2009 Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported nightly debates on TV channel IRIB 3 between two candidates at a time, with each candidate facing the others once. This was the first time Iran had held televised debates between candidates.[58] Each debate lasted for around one and a half hours. During the debate on 3 June between President Ahmadinejad and reformist rival, former Prime Minister Mousavi, Ahmadinejad made accusations regarding former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the Iranian Revolution. Rafsanjani responded to these charges on 9 June in an open letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei requesting that he stepped in to rebuke Ahmadinejad for his comments at the debate.[59][60]