Mir Hossein Mousavi Denies Mohammad Reza Bahonar's Claim About Sending a Message

Mir Hossein Mousavi, a leader of the Green Movement under house arrest, implicitly accused Mohammad Reza Bahonar of 'lying,' stating that he has not received any message from the former deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. According to the Kaleme website, Mr. Mousavi said in a 'meeting' on Tuesday, August 16, that 'one of the most important posters designed since the Constitutional Revolution was the 'No Lies' poster, which circulated everywhere in 2009 hand in hand with the people. It is good for Mr. Bahonar to think about the message of that poster from the people whenever he intends to give a speech or interview.' Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and former deputy speaker of the parliament, recently stated that the 'best situation' for Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, leaders of the Green Movement, is their 'continued house arrest.' Mr. Bahonar also added that Mr. Mousavi did not accept his suggestion to announce that he would not engage in political activities for years if released. According to this principlist figure, the continued house arrest of Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi is the 'best situation' because if a trial is held, the sentence issued for them will be 'heavy.' Ali Motahari, currently the deputy speaker of parliament, also stated in July 2014 that in a meeting he had with Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, the crimes of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi were described as significant, and he said that if these two were tried, a 'very heavy sentence' awaited them. On August 17, Mr. Motahari told the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) that 'the claim that the sentence for the detainees is death is not correct; because a mohareb (one who fights against the Islamic system) is someone who has fought armed against the Islamic system, while these individuals have not done such a thing, and if events occurred that led to the deaths of some individuals, part of it was due to the improper management of the crisis by responsible institutions.' The deputy speaker of parliament said that 'about two years ago, through Mr. Mousavi's daughter,' he sent a message to him asking, 'What plans do you have if you are released?' Mr. Motahari said, 'He gave a very good response,' adding that 'the essence of the words of the detainees was that they are interested in the revolution and they had given a positive and good response to that message, indicating their support for national unity and goodwill for the Islamic revolution, and there was no sign of protest or division in it.' Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi's wife, has also been accompanying him in the house arrest that began in February 2011. Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi were two candidates who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election and led the protest movement following that election. Recently, Elham Aminzadeh, a special assistant to the President of Iran, stated that the house arrest of these individuals was aimed at 'ensuring public security' and 'when the issue of public security is resolved, the restrictions should also be lifted.' In this context, Rahnavard's message came on the eve of the two-thousandth day of house arrest, which reached 2000 days. Bahonar considered the continued house arrest as the 'best situation' for the leaders of the Green Movement. Bahonar: Mousavi did not accept my proposal to lift the house arrest. The special assistant to Rouhani: With the provision of public security, the house arrest should also be lifted. Hossein Karroubi: Rouhani's failure to lift the house arrest is due to the distractions caused by the leader's entourage.