Iran: Opposition Leader’s Son Visits Parents Under House Arrest

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Mehdi Karroubi’s son announced that he has succeeded in visiting his parents in “in coordination with security forces” who have held them under house arrest for over three weeks.

On his website, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, the son of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, wrote that he was allowed to visit his parents at “their own residential apartment.”

This was the first time that one of the Karroubi children has been allowed to see Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi, following speculation that Iranian authorities might have transferred the opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives to prison.

Mehdi Karroubi
Mehdi Karroubi

The opposition leaders were put under house arrest and cut off from the outside world after they called for a rally on February 14 in solidarity with the recent Arab uprisings.

Mohammad Taghi Karroubi reports he finally managed to visit his parents 38 days after they were cut off from the outside world.

The house arrest of the opposition leaders has been challenged by reformist parties and several senior Shiite members of the clergy.

Karroubi’s son writes, “We hope that the authorities recognize the rights of the Karroubis and Mousavis to be informed about the legal proceedings and the sentence issued by the judiciary and the approval of the National Security Council with regard to this house arrest and its scope so that all our many questions in view of the country’s current laws and its international commitments may be answered.”

The younger Karroubi does not describe the details of his visit with his parents.

Kaleme website reported earlier that a daughter of MirHosein Mousavi, the other Iranian opposition leader, was allowed to visit her parents on March 2.

The Mousavi children also published a letter describing the visit “limited and unnatural” and reported that the security officials had told them to keep silent about the visit.

Mousavi’s daughters have called for the “immediate lifting of illegal restrictions” on her parents and the Karroubis.

Iranian authorities refer to the opposition leaders as “leaders of a sedition” and maintain that they are involved in a conspiracy to topple the system.

Mousavi and Karroubi challenged the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential elections, which precipitated mass street demonstrations where people asked: “Where is my vote?”

The persistent protests sparked a severe clampdown on demonstrators and the tightening of restrictions on the opposition leaders.

Despite persistent calls from Islamic Republic extremists to prosecute the opposition leaders, the judiciary has repeatedly declared that it is not in the regime’s interest to put Mousavi and Karroubi on trial.

The head of Iran’s judiciary has implied on several occasions that the prosecution of Mousavi and Karroubi can only happen under the order of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Radio Zamaneh

Since 2006 Radio Zamaneh has successfully facilitated Persian writers, Islamic scholars, prominent Iranians and personalities at the heart of Iranian culture to provide their views and thoughts.

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