Escalation of Attacks by Hardline Conservatives Against Leaders of 2009 Protests Ahead of December 30

Hardline conservatives and supporters of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, have intensified their attacks against Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the 2009 protests who are currently under house arrest, ahead of the anniversary of the "9 Dey" demonstrations in support of the government and against the protesters. On Monday, January 8, Ibrahim Raisi, the Attorney General of the country, stated that the "house arrest" of Mousavi and Karroubi is considered "a precautionary measure and not a judicial one." He added during a speech in Isfahan that "the house arrest of these individuals should not lead to overlooking the fundamental injustices they have committed against the revolution, the system, the people, and the line of Imam, as their injustices are unforgivable." Mousavi, Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, Mousavi's wife, have been under house arrest without any trial since February 2011. The Iranian Constitution and the country's criminal laws do not mention the concept of "house arrest." The Attorney General referred to the 17 statements from the two presidential candidates of 2009 and what he called their "disregard for the law," stating that "these individuals incited the people to take to the streets and created insecurity. They ignored the legal framework of the Guardian Council and subsequently invalidated the votes of legal authorities." After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the 2009 presidential election, Tehran and several other cities in Iran witnessed months of protests against the election results. During these protests, dozens were killed by security forces, and thousands were arrested. Ali Khamenei warned against the continuation of protests in the streets during his Friday prayer sermon on June 29, 2009, prior to the Guardian Council's announcement. Mousavi and Karroubi claimed that the votes in this election were "engineered" and called for the annulment of the results. Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, also stated on Monday that the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 election protests is "legal" and "jurisprudential," adding that "the house arrest of the leaders of the sedition was carried out based on the preventive duties of the judiciary, while if the leaders of the sedition were to be punished, they would certainly be executed." Hardline conservatives close to the Supreme Leader refer to the protests against the presidential election results as "sedition." Mohammad Hassan Rahimian, the custodian of Jamkaran Mosque and former head of the Martyrs Foundation during Ahmadinejad's government, also stated at the "Commemoration of the 9 Dey Epic" seminar, titled "The Hammer of the Republic on the Aristocracy," held at the former U.S. embassy in Tehran, that a group claiming to follow the "line of Imam" is seeking to overthrow the regime. He added, "We have a new group in society that claims to follow the line of Imam but acts against the Imam and the Islamic system and is seeking to overthrow or pave the way for the overthrow of the Islamic system." Rahimian further stated that if these individuals continue their actions, according to the Quran, "they must be killed in the most severe manner possible." Gholamali Haddad Adel, a conservative representative, also stated at the event, "The danger of sedition has not been eliminated, meaning that the same foreign supporters and their domestic followers are still hopeful of promoting the same ideas in the country and coming to power." He added, "Sedition is a red line for the system, and the country's leadership has stated that sedition has brought the country to the brink of the abyss, which is evidence of the red line status of sedition." While conservative figures and media have uniformly articulated the foundations of the "house arrest" of the leaders of the protests against the presidential election results, Mir Hossein Mousavi has recently welcomed the idea of a public trial to defend himself. In his latest message regarding his house arrest, Mousavi stated, "I am ready to respond to the accusations and reveal the truths related to the sources of the massive corruption that has engulfed the country and the revolution." He also reacted to the accusation of being an overthrowist, describing it as "stemming from the lack of piety and weakness of those who slander."