A slight opening in the siege of Karroubi, Mousavi, and Rahnavard?

According to Mehdi Karroubi's son, security officials have allowed his father, as well as Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, to meet with friends or relatives once a week. Mousavi's brother, however, says there has been no change in his circumstances.

Hossein Karroubi, the son of Mehdi Karroubi, spoke to ILNA news agency on Monday, January 14, about the details of the new regulations for limited and controlled weekly visits for his father, as well as Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard.

Hossein Karroubi said: "About two months ago, security officials told Mr. Karroubi and Mousavi that we can take you out once a week at your choice, but the location must be coordinated."

Mehdi Karroubi, who has been under house arrest since 2000 along with Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, began using this opportunity by visiting the families of those killed in the war. He met with the Shah Hosseini family in Shemiran, as well as the Panahi family in Karaj, and a number of other families.

It is said that Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard have also met with Mousavi's two brothers and Rahnavard's relatives.

Mehdi Karroubi's son also said: "The immediate family, which includes his daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and us, can visit him [Mehdi Karroubi] whenever they want, but the key to the house is in the hands of the security forces, and every time we go, we have to call the iPhone and then they lock the door behind us, and despite the family's insistence, we have not been given the key."

The release of this news prompted Mir Mahmoud Mousavi, Mir Hossein Mousavi's brother, to react to it. He said that "there has been no change in the situation of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard."

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two candidates protesting the announced results of the 2009 election, along with Zahra Rahnavard, Mousavi's wife, have been under house arrest without trial or judicial order since February 2008. In January 2012, the then commander of the security forces, Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, announced that this action was taken with the decision and responsibility of Ali Khamenei.

Failure to lift the siege

Esmail Garami-Moghaddam, spokesman for the Etemad-e-Melli Party, said about the reasons why the siege of Karroubi, Mousavi, and Rahnavard was not completely lifted and some news was published about “the fault of the reformists in the failure to lift the siege,” adding: “Some fundamentalists tried to lift the siege but were unsuccessful, and now they blame their failure on the reformists.”

The spokesman for the Etemad-e-Melli Party called the recent statements of Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, and blaming reformists for the failure to lift the siege, contrary to reality. He said: "We had no sign of the siege being lifted from those under siege in 2017, and merely in speech, some gentlemen were stating that there was a possibility of the siege being lifted, which of course was mostly raised by reformists who were present in the government."

Garami Moghadam pointed to the efforts of some fundamentalists to lift the siege and said: "Although some, perhaps like Mr. Bahonar himself, were trying compassionately to lift the siege, they were unsuccessful."

The spokesman for the National Trust Party said that lifting the blockade is “like drinking water” and that no security or political problems will arise. He noted: “Gentlemen, what guarantee is there? Does someone have to provide a guarantee in order to criticize? If the blockade is lifted, many of the costs imposed on the country will be eliminated. Let them criticize four times, but with criticism, costs will be imposed on the country.”

In response to those who attributed the reason for the blockade not being lifted to the publication of Mehdi Karroubi's statement, Garami Moghaddam said that Mousavi's failure to publish the statement did not result in his blockade being lifted. He said: "I think that gentlemen have made mistakes so far, and from now on, if this blockade continues, the cost to the government will be heavier."

Ending the house arrest of "Green Movement leaders" has been one of the promises made by Hassan Rouhani and the reformists in the last few elections.

In an unprecedented and open letter in February 2017, Mehdi Karroubi lashed out at Iran’s supreme leader, telling Ali Khamenei to accept the burden of responsibility for the past three decades. He wrote that the fate of his “illegal and arbitrary detention” by Azrael would be determined by his death “or the other.”

" Instead of boasting, have the courage to stand trial publicly ."

Fatemeh Karroubi, the wife of Mehdi Karroubi, responded in a letter published on January 1 to statements by Mohseni Ejei, a spokesman for the judiciary, regarding new accusations against Mehdi Karroubi regarding receiving financial assistance from Saudi Arabia for election expenses.

Mohseni Ejei had said in an interview a few days earlier that Mehdi Karroubi had received sums of money from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf countries in 2009.

Fatemeh Karroubi wrote in her letter that Karroubi and his campaign "have had no connection with foreigners or regional governments, and this campaign has never used their financial resources directly or indirectly."

Karroubi's wife also emphasized in her letter: "The security and judicial authorities, who have plowed through our private and political lives in several stages after the events of 2009 and took all available documents and evidence with them following the raid on our homes and offices, are more aware of this issue than anyone else."

In her letter, Fatemeh Karroubi also called for a public trial of the besieged and wrote: "In this conversation, Mr. Ejei has called the illegal and arbitrary punishments of the regime over the past eight years the minimum punishment and has once again brought up the issue of execution. It is a mistake to test the tested."

In this letter, Karroubi's wife expressed her hope that "the authorities, instead of boasting, will have the courage to publicly prosecute him."

Source: DW