Ahmad Jannati: Four Idiots Speak of Lifting House Arrest

Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, described discussions about lifting the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the candidates who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election, as the work of "four idiots." According to the report from Mizan News Agency, Mr. Jannati stated on Saturday morning, February 4, that "February 22 is a slap in the face for those who talk about lifting the house arrest," adding, "Those who say the house arrest should be lifted are looking to let the seditionists come out again and cause sedition." The Secretary of the Guardian Council emphasized that "the people must reveal and condemn this plot of the seditionists with their widespread presence on February 22," and added, "If four idiots start talking about this, does that represent the opinion of 75 million Iranians?" Ahmad Jannati had previously called on the judiciary on February 29, 2010, during Friday prayers in Tehran, to "imprison the leaders of sedition" in their homes and cut off their phone and internet access. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi were placed under house arrest during those days, and their communication with the outside world was severely restricted. Iranian officials often refer to these individuals as "leaders of sedition." In December 2013, the Secretary of the Guardian Council also stated that "the system has been very lenient with the leaders of sedition by allowing them to remain under house arrest" and added, "If it weren't for Islamic clemency, they should have been executed." Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, is one of the individuals who has made the most comments about the necessity of ending the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders. Mr. Motahari believes that Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi should be tried alongside Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and that their house arrest is illegal. Previously, in an open letter to Ahmad Jannati, he accused him of being "afraid" of the trial of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and "worried" about the revelation of certain truths that, according to him, would undermine years of propaganda. The Tehran representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly also mentioned that in a meeting with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic described the "crime" of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi as "great" and said that if they were tried, a "very heavy sentence" awaited them.