Mehdi Karroubi Hospitalized Again in Intensive Care Unit

Mohammad Hossein Karroubi, the son of Mehdi Karroubi, confirmed on Sunday, July 29, that his father has been hospitalized again and transferred to the intensive care unit of a Tehran hospital. He told the Jamaran website that Mr. Karroubi was transferred before noon on Sunday due to a low heart rate. Mohammad Hossein Karroubi announced that his father is scheduled for an angiography on Tuesday morning, July 31, to determine the cause of the low heart rate, adding that after that, doctors will decide whether to place a stent or use a pacemaker for Mehdi Karroubi's heart. Mehdi Karroubi, one of the leaders of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, was hospitalized last week due to a low heart rate, and an EPS heart procedure was performed on him. After that, Mr. Karroubi was returned to the location where he is under house arrest. Following this, Mehdi Karroubi's family reported in a new letter that his treatment process has been left 'incomplete' and that he faced another heart issue on Friday, July 28. The family also criticized in another statement on Saturday, July 29, the 'deliberate disruption of the treatment process' by a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence and 'preventing the pursuit of medical matters for the house-arrested individuals.' This statement was released shortly after news of the deterioration of the health condition of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, another leader of the 2009 election protests, who, along with his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, is under house arrest. In this statement, the government of Hassan Rouhani and the Ministry of Intelligence, alongside what was referred to as 'the ruling authority' and 'the dysfunctional judicial system,' were described as 'responsible for the lives' of the house-arrested individuals. Mehdi Karroubi's family stated that the representative of the Ministry of Intelligence has created 'multiple obstacles for the house-arrested individuals and harassed the two families of Karroubi and Mousavi' since the beginning of his activities. According to this statement, the representative of the Ministry of Intelligence has a 'mission' and 'defined responsibility' to 'disrupt the treatment process, prevent the pursuit of medical matters for the house-arrested individuals,' and 'gradually take the lives of Karroubi and Mousavi.' The Ministry of Intelligence has not yet responded to these statements. In the statement from Mr. Karroubi's family, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, was also criticized for not being 'committed to accountability' regarding the lifting of the house arrest due to 'other priorities,' but being 'obligated to respond to the illegal and inhumane behavior of his agents.' The Rouhani government has not yet reacted to these statements. The President of Iran has previously stated in cases such as student protests and slogans centered around the freedom of Zahra Rahnavard, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mir Hossein Mousavi that 'the government is committed to all the promises made to the people' and 'we need to create internal consensus to achieve our goals.' However, there has been no change in the six-year house arrest status of Mr. Karroubi, Mr. Mousavi, and Ms. Rahnavard over the past years. The judiciary has stated that the house arrest of these three individuals was carried out by the order of the 'Supreme National Security Council.' However, Hassan Rouhani, who is also the head of this council, has denied the existence of such a resolution.