The Iranian Green Movement or Green Wave of Iran, also referred to as the Persian Awakening or Persian Spring by the western media, refers to a political movement that arose after the June 12, 2009 Iranian presidential election and lasted until early 2010, in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office. Green was initially used as the symbol of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign, but after the election it became the symbol of unity and hope for those asking for annulment of what they regarded as a fraudulent election. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are recognized as political leaders of the Green Movement. Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri was also mentioned as spiritual leader of the movement.
Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer, and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and one of the highest-ranking authorities in Shīʿite Islam. He was once the designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini; they had a falling-out in 1989 over government policies that Montazeri claimed infringed on people's freedom and denied them their rights, especially after the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners. Montazeri spent his later years in Qom and remained politically influential in Iran but was placed in house arrest in 1997 for questioning "the unaccountable rule exercised by the supreme leader", Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Ruhollah Khomeini. He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran, a grand marja of Shia Islam, and was said to be one of Khamenei's teachers.
Mehdi Karroubi is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house arrest in February 2011. As of 2021, he is still confined to his house.
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh is an Iranian socialist politician, artist, architect and opposition figure who served as the 45th and last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. He was a reformist candidate for the 2009 presidential election and eventually the leader of the opposition in the post-election unrest. Mousavi served as the president of the Iranian Academy of Arts until 2009, when conservative authorities removed him. Although Mousavi had always considered himself a reformist and believed in promoting change within the 1979 constitution, on 3 February 2023, in response to the Mahsa Amini protests, he announced his opposition to the Islamic Republic and asked for a widespread referendum to fully change the constitution and make a fundamental change in Iran's political system.
Faezeh Hashemi Bahramani, better known as Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani is an Iranian women's rights activist, politician and former journalist who served as a member of Iranian parliament from 1996 to 2000. She is also president of Executives of Construction Party women's league and the former editor-in-chief of Zan newspaper.
The Hosseinieh Ershad or Hosseiniyeh Ershad is a non-traditionalist religious institute established by Nasser Minachi in Tehran, Iran. It was closed for a time by the Pahlavi government in 1972. The institute is housed in a large, domed hall, and is used for lectures on history, culture, society, and religion. The facility also includes a large public library, where most of its users are college students.
Zahra Bani Yaghoub was an Iranian medical doctor. She died in a prison in Hamedan after she was arrested by the Guidance Patrol. The incident gained attention in the press due to the possible police involvement in her death.
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh served as the last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989, before the position was abolished in the 1989 constitutional review. In the years leading up to the Islamic Revolution, Mousavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, moved to the United States. They returned shortly after the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Mousavi later ran for office in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, but lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Following the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests against alleged electoral fraud and in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi occurred in Tehran and other major cities in Iran and around the world starting after the disputed presidential election on 2009 June 12 and continued even after the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad as President of Iran on 5 August 2009. This is a timeline of the events which occurred during those protests.
Fatemeh Karroubi is an Iranian politician and activist. She is the wife of Mehdi Karroubi, a politician, Shia cleric, chairman of the National Trust Party and a candidate for President of Iran during the 2005 and 2009 presidential elections. Fatemeh Karroubi campaigned openly with her husband during the 2009 presidential campaign, drawing comparisons to another high-profile political spouse, Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi. Candidates campaigning openly with their wives had previously been a rare occurrence within the Islamic Republic of Iran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Sayyida Zahra Mostafavi Khomeini is an Iranian politician and educator. The daughter of Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian Revolution and subsequent Supreme Leader of Iran, Mostafavi was awarded a PhD in philosophy from the University of Tehran, where she subsequently taught. Mostafavi has been called the "most prominent" of Khomeini's three daughters, and has become a prominent supporter of women's rights in Iran in addition to Palestinian causes.
The Ashura protests were a series of protests which occurred on 27 December 2009 in Iran against the outcome of the June 2009 Iranian presidential election, which demonstrators claim was rigged. The demonstrations were part of the 2009 Iranian election protests and were the largest since June. In December 2009, the protests saw an escalation in violence.
The Association of the Women of the Islamic Republic is an Iranian reformist political party. It was the first officially registered party of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The 2011–2012 protests in Iran were a series of demonstrations in Iran which began on 14 February 2011, called "The Day of Rage". The protests followed the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests and were influenced by other concurrent protests in the region.
Heshmatiyeh Prison is a prison in Iran, located on a Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) base, in the North-East of Tehran. It is noted for its political prisoners' wing.
The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution is a conservative-dominated body based in Qom, set up at the time of Ayatollah Khomeini. Its decisions can only be overruled by Iran's Supreme Leader. Most of its members were appointed by Ali Khamenei, Khomeini's successor.
Bahareh Rahnama is an Iranian actress and author. She won a Hafez Award for her acting in Tambourine (2008).
Sadegh Zibakalam Mofrad is an Iranian academic, author and pundit described as reformist and neo-liberal. Zibakalam is a former professor at University of Tehran and appears frequently on international news outlets including the BBC News and Al Jazeera. His books "How Did We Become What We Are? " and "An Introduction to Islamic Revolution" are among bestsellers and prominent books on Iranian contemporary politics.
Zahra Saei is an Iranian politician, researcher and academic.
Seyyed Mahmoud Alizadeh-Tabatabaei is an Iranian lawyer. According to the New York Times, he is "one of the most influential" and "well connected" lawyers to highest leaders in Iran. He was a member of City Council of Tehran fRom 1999 to 2003.
