Aref: Lifting the House Arrest is a Constant Demand of Reformists

The head of the Reformists' electoral policy council emphasized that lifting the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 presidential election protests, namely Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, is a "constant position" of the reformists. He expressed hope that the upcoming election results would be such that this "demand" could be addressed. According to ISNA news agency, Mohammad Reza Aref stated on Tuesday, February 15, at Amir Kabir University that lifting the house arrest of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard is a "demand of the youth and students." He added, "However, we live in a country with military and supervisory institutions, and we hope this issue will be resolved legally." Aref expressed hope that the results of the upcoming elections would allow for a response to this "youth demand." Additionally, according to ILNA news agency, the head of the Reformists' electoral policy council said, "We do not find it necessary to media-cover the smallest actions taken by reformists to lift the house arrest." He emphasized that "harsh stances against the house arrest have not helped in lifting it and have led to its continuation." Aref added, "The house arrest must be lifted or a legal authority must decide on it, as this is our constant position." Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since late February 2011 without trial. Mehdi Karroubi, after three years of "house arrest" in a "safe house" of the Ministry of Intelligence, was moved to his home in Jamaran in February 2014 but remains under house arrest. Lifting the house arrest of Mousavi, Rahnavard, and Karroubi was among the electoral promises of Hassan Rouhani before he was elected president. Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the spokesperson for Rouhani's government, stated on February 25 that the government has tried "as much as it can and even more" regarding the issue of lifting the house arrest of these three individuals, but is not the final decision-maker. However, Ardshir Amir Arjamand, advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi's son, announced that there has been "no serious and noticeable change" in the house arrest situation and that "there is no official or unofficial news regarding effective action" in this regard. These two figures close to Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi emphasized the importance of the two elections on March 7, and despite criticizing the disqualifications, welcomed public participation in the elections. As the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections approach, the discussion of the house arrest of these individuals and the events of 2009 has become more prominent in the discourse of some candidates and political activists. Meanwhile, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad and a candidate for the Assembly of Experts, emphasized that "the sedition that threatens us today is far more dangerous than the sedition of 2009." Alamolhoda also stated that Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi were not "spies for America and England" and had "faith" in the system. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and his close associates refer to the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election as "sedition." In recent months, some of the leader's appointees, including Mohammad Hossein Naja, the cultural deputy of the Revolutionary Guards, and Ahmad Khatami, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, have warned about the possibility of repeating protests against the 2009 presidential election in the upcoming elections. In response to these warnings, Ali Younesi, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani and former Minister of Intelligence, stated that this "prediction" is based on "pessimistic views and has no external reality."