Iranian Security and Judicial Officials Promise to Lift House Arrest by Year-End

Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, announced on Saturday, February 17, that judicial and security officials of the Islamic Republic have promised to lift the house arrest of Green Movement leaders by the end of the current year, 1396 (March 2018). According to this 'promise,' the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard will end within a month as the year concludes. Motahari, a conservative representative, stated that if this 'promise' is not fulfilled, 'we will start our protests.' Mehdi Karroubi, along with Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, has been under house arrest since February 2011, following their leadership in protests against the 2009 election results, and requests to end their house arrest have been unsuccessful. On February 1, the first deputy of the judiciary announced that as long as the Supreme National Security Council's resolution regarding the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders remains in effect, the judiciary cannot take action to lift it. The legal basis for the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders has become a contentious issue between the government and the judiciary. Judiciary officials claim that the house arrest of these three individuals was implemented based on a resolution from the Supreme National Security Council, but President Hassan Rouhani, who heads this council, denies the existence of such a resolution. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Motahari told reporters that officials 'gave us promises and said not to comment too much in the media, and in return, they are looking to resolve this issue by the end of the year.' Motahari did not specify the names of these judicial and security officials. Earlier, a member of the 'Committee for Following Up on the Lifting of House Arrest' in Parliament reported that 'the authorities have concluded that continuing the house arrest will only harm national interests.' Regarding the case of Kavous Seyed-Emami, the Iranian-Canadian citizen, university professor, and environmental activist who died in prison two weeks after his arrest, Motahari noted the Parliament's inability to question the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence on this matter. Seyed-Emami's death has been attributed to suicide by the Revolutionary Guards from the outset, and since then, officials of the Islamic Republic and state media have insisted that his death was due to 'suicide,' while international organizations are calling for clarification on the details of this case. No one has yet answered the question of what circumstances led to his suicide before going to trial and receiving a conviction. Motahari clearly stated that the Parliament can only seek explanations from the Ministry of Intelligence, and the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence is not accountable to anyone. He mentioned, 'They currently do not accept that any wrongdoing occurred and claim he committed suicide; we also do not have solid evidence to prove otherwise.' This member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly stated that he is not convinced by the suicide claim: 'If someone asks me if I am convinced, I would say not yet and I am seeking more information.' He criticized the Ministry of Intelligence for not taking a stance on this issue, stating that 'the Ministry of Intelligence has not said a word about this, which is not good.' On Thursday evening, Iranian television aired a film titled 'Forbidden Zone,' claiming that Seyed-Emami and other detained environmental activists were engaged in 'espionage.' The film also alleged that cameras installed by these individuals to identify rare animal species in Iran were filming 'Iran's missile sites.' Motahari criticized the airing of this documentary on state television.