Mir Hossein Mousavi

Iran's economy stood in shambles and its international status was at a nadir. Disturbed by the leadership of then-President Ali Khamenei, Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi wrote him a letter and threatened to resign from his high-ranking post, according to news accounts at the time. "The affairs of Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan are in your hands," Mousavi's 1988 missive reportedly said. "You know better how disastrous these have been to the country."

Iran's opposition leader today announced the formation of a new political front aimed at continuing the struggle against what he described as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's illegitimate government and maintaining the grassroots political movement unleashed by the nation's disputed June elections. Defying the threats by hard-liners to have him tried for sedition, Mir-Hossein Mousavi declared the creation of "The Green Path of Hope" as an attempt to institutionalize the political movement built on his presidential campaign and the outrage that followed the disputed results and the ensuing violent crackdown.

A high-ranking conservative cleric called for the arrest of the nation's opposition leaders today while a counterpart demanded the release of political prisoners as the nation's political and religious establishment showed no signs of reconciliation following the disputed June 12 reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In addition, many lawmakers and clergy from Ahmadinejad's own conservative political camp fumed over his proposed Cabinet, including his decision to nominate three female ministers.

The exhibit of Iranian artists that opens today at Crewest gallery in downtown Los Angeles was in the works long before the disputed June 12 presidential election in Iran. But Shervin Shahbazi, curator of the show that focuses on street art, is still dealing with the repercussions of the bloody mass demonstrations that followed the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Shahbazi has had trouble communicating with the five male artists, securing basic biographical information about each of them and, in some cases, even obtaining their artwork.

Re "Obama's choice not to choose," Opinion, June 16 I don't know what Jonah Goldberg wants President Obama to do to bolster the supporters of Iranian reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. We are more popular in the Middle East than we have been in many years, but more popular doesn't mean popular. If Goldberg wants to kill this movement in Iran, then by all means, let's tell the Iranians what to do. After all, that was the George W. Bush foreign policy (plus some added military force)