An influential former prime minister said on Tuesday that he would run in the next presidential election, posing what could be a serious pro-reform challenge to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was prime minister during the Iran-Iraq War, is seen by many as a strong candidate in the June election because he is well remembered by many Iranians for managing the country through the devastating war. His revolutionary credentials also could help him siphon votes away from Ahmadinejad’s base.
Iran’s reformers, who favor improving ties with the West and loosening restrictions at home, see a strong opportunity to unseat Ahmadinejad. The president has lost popularity even among some conservatives because of his handling of the faltering economy, and some Iranians believe his tough anti-US and anti-Israel rhetoric has worsened Iran’s isolation in the world.
But besides Mousavi, there are two other strong pro-reform candidates in the race: former president Mohammad Khatami and former parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi. Khatami has said in the past that he and Mousavi will not compete against each other, an indication that one of them could leave the race.
Reformist politicians and analysts have said the reform bloc is fielding several strong candidates in the initial stages of the campaign to diffuse hard-line attacks, but will reduce the number to one shortly before the election to concentrate support.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad accused the US and other world powers yesterday of creating an “unfair” economic order that had triggered the global financial crisis.
In an opening speech at a summit of the regional Economic Cooperation Organization in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said “the United States and some of its allies are at the center of the economic crisis.”
“Capitalism as a system has failed. The economic order is unfair and irresponsible,” he said.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
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