Karrubi's Son: Lifting the House Arrest of Green Movement Leaders Before the 2017 Elections is Unlikely

The son of Mehdi Karroubi states that none of the governmental institutions take responsibility for the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders because it is 'illegal.' He deemed the lifting of the house arrest of the 2009 election protesters before the 2017 presidential elections as 'unlikely' and mentioned that the regime would not grant this 'privilege' to Hassan Rouhani. On Tuesday, June 6, in an interview with the 'Entekhab News' website, which was also republished on the 'Kalemeh' and 'Saham News' websites, Hossein Karroubi said that his father has repeatedly requested that his charges be addressed in a competent court 'like Navab Safavi or Mohammad Mossadegh,' but the regime is unwilling to form such a court. Mr. Karroubi emphasized that due to the 'illegality' of the house arrests of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, governmental institutions do not take responsibility for their house arrest and shift the responsibility onto each other. Previously, Ardshir Amir Arjamand, spokesperson for the 'Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope,' had stated that the contradictory statements of government and judiciary officials regarding the house arrest of these three individuals are indicative of 'accepting a deadlock and inability to resolve the issue.' Mehdi Karroubi, in a letter to the President of Iran earlier this year, emphasized that he does not consider the lifting of the house arrest to be 'in his hands' and requested Hassan Rouhani to ask the 'oppressive regime' to put him on trial in a 'public court.' While Hassan Rouhani had previously announced that the Supreme National Security Council did not have a resolution regarding the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 election protests, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the spokesperson for the judiciary, stated on June 2 that any change in the status of these three individuals is contingent upon a change in the resolution of the National Security Council. Meanwhile, Ali Motahari, a member of the Iranian parliament, had previously questioned the legitimacy of this resolution signed by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2010. On July 29, 2015, Motahari reported that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic opposed the trial of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, stating in a meeting that their 'crime' is 'very serious' and that if they were tried, a 'heavy sentence' would await them. Motahari later announced that he was not convinced by Ayatollah Khamenei's statements, asserting that 'even the Prophet of Islam cannot declare that someone's sentence is heavy and issue a verdict without trial and hearing their defenses.' Lifting the house arrest is considered a 'great privilege' for Hassan Rouhani on the eve of the 2017 elections. In another part of his interview, Hossein Karroubi mentioned that the tenth parliament, with the presence of individuals like Ali Motahari, could play a 'crucial role in pressuring the judiciary or the Supreme National Security Council to respond to public opinion.' Previously, some political figures had expressed hope that the tenth parliament would pursue the lifting of the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders. The son of Mehdi Karroubi also regarded the lifting of the house arrest as a 'great privilege' for Hassan Rouhani on the eve of the 2017 presidential elections and predicted that the regime would not grant this 'privilege' to Rouhani, and the house arrest would continue until these elections. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, stated on June 1 that the government 'cannot do anything' regarding the lifting of the house arrest of these three individuals and that expectations from the government in this regard should not be high. Hossein Karroubi also reported that Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi, the Minister of Health in Rouhani's government, had recently examined Mr. Karroubi's eye again, and there are 'no specific problems' with it. He also mentioned that Mr. Karroubi walks with a cane after a leg fracture but will be able to move without it after a while. He described his father's mental state as 'very good' and stated that he is kept informed of the news through newspapers 'provided to him' and television. Mehdi Karroubi underwent surgery on the morning of December 8, 2015, due to a leg fracture, and after this operation, Hossein Firidoun, the brother of the President of Iran, visited him and conveyed Hassan Rouhani's 'greetings' to him. This was Mehdi Karroubi's sixth surgery since the beginning of his house arrest, and prior to this, he had undergone surgeries for a herniated disc, knee, urinary tract, eye, and heart. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election, have been under house arrest without trial since February 2011. After three years of 'detention' in a 'safe house' of the Ministry of Intelligence, Mehdi Karroubi was transferred to his home in Jamaran in February 2014 but remains under house arrest.