Backgrounder: Four candidates in upcoming Iranian presidential election

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-- Former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi

Mousavi is a leading representative in Iran's reformist camp and is considered by many observers as the main challenger to Ahmadinejad.

Mousavi was born in 1941 in the city of Khameneh in the northwestern Iranian province of East Azerbaijan. He holds a master's degree in architecture from Shahid Beheshti University.

Mousavi is an Iranian reformist politician, painter and architect who served as Iran's prime minister from 1981 to 1989. Mousavi is currently the president of the Iranian Academy of Arts.

He was widely praised for managing the country during the Iran-Iraq war in 1980-1988. After 20-year political silence, Mousavi announced in March his bid to run in the June presidential election.

As an reformist politician, Mousavi has repeatedly criticized the incumbent government's economic policy which he terms as an alms-based one. He also vows to pursue constructive interaction and better relationship between Iran and the world if he is elected as president.

Mousavi also said that he comes to the election to pursue liberty of speech and thought.