Tehran

Moussavi pledges to continue reforms if elected in Iran

Moussavi pledges to continue reforms if elected in Iran Tehran - Presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi vowed to continue the reform course of former president Mohammad Khatami if elected, the labour agency ILNA reported Tuesday.

Khatami quit the presidential race on Monday night to support former prime minister Moussavi in the June 12 election.

In a letter to Khatami, Moussavi praised his decision to withdraw and promised to continue the reform course the moderate cleric had adopted during his eight-year presidential tenure (1997-2005).

Iranian opposition focuses on economy to defeat Ahmadinejad

Iranian opposition focuses on economy to defeat AhmadinejadTehran  - Opposition groups in Iran have many differences among each other but are unanimous on one issue: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should go.

Many observers believed that the strategy by the opposition for the June 12 presidential election would be focused on Ahmadinejad's foreign policy, such as his uncompromising stance in the nuclear dispute that has led the country toward international isolation.

ROUNDUP: Khatami quits presidential race, supports Moussavi

Khatami quits presidential race, supports MoussaviTehran - Iranian former president Mohammad Khatami quit the presidential race on Monday night to support former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi in the June 12 election.

The two candidates had similar platforms, and observers believed they could split the moderate vote to the advantage of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose ultra-conservative faction has named him as its sole candidate.

In a statement carried by his website, Yaari News, Khatami said he withdrew his candidacy "as a moral obligation for avoiding a split in the votes."

PROFILE: Moussavi - Comeback of the crisis-manager

Moussavi - Comeback of the crisis-managerTehran  - Iranian former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi has been away from the political scene for two decades, but now the pragmatic technocrat is back to challenge Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 presidential election.

Former president Mohammad Khatami threw his support behind Moussavi on Monday after quitting the race to avoid splitting the vote between two candidates with similar platforms.

Moussavi, born in 1941 in Khameneh, north-eastern Iran, started his political career as foreign minister in 1980, the same year that the Iran-Iraq war broke out.

1ST LEAD: Khatami quits presidential race, supports Moussavi

Khatami quits presidential race, supports Moussavi Tehran  - Iranian former president Mohammad Khatami quit the presidential race on Monday night to support former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi in the June 12 election.

The two candidates had similar platforms, and observers believed they could split the moderate vote to the advantage of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose ultra-conservative faction has named him as its sole candidate.

In a statement carried by his website Yaari News, Khatami said he withdrew his candidacy "as a moral obligation for avoiding a split in the votes."

URGENT:Khatami quits presidential race, supports Moussavi

Khatami quits presidential race, supports Moussavi Tehran

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