Mohammad Reza Aref: I See the Process of Following Up on the House Arrest Issue as Positive

Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Hope faction in the Parliament, on Thursday, December 23, expressed optimism about the process of lifting the house arrest of the leaders of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, hoping that this issue would be resolved "with wisdom and patience." According to ISNA news agency, Mr. Aref, on the sidelines of a nationwide gathering of members of the Academic Staff Syndicate, responded to a question about the lifting of house arrest from the leaders of the 2009 election protests, stating: "The issue of house arrest has been among the demands of a part of society, students, and academics, and it is currently being pursued, and we hope that with wisdom and patience, the issue will be resolved." He referred to the process of following up on the lifting of house arrest as "positive" without mentioning details. Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, as well as Mehdi Karroubi, have been under house arrest for the past six years. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who is said to have ordered their house arrest, has repeatedly referred to the protests against the 2009 election results as sedition and the leaders of the protests as leaders of sedition. The house arrest of Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Karroubi, and Ms. Rahnavard continues despite Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, having promised during his 2013 election campaign to resolve the issue of the house arrest of the 2009 protest leaders. Mr. Rouhani had stated: "I believe that the future president should fundamentally seek to reduce distances and eliminate the security atmosphere in the country so that not only those who are under house arrest are freed, but also those who have been imprisoned due to the events of 2009 are freed as well." Meanwhile, some political parties and figures in Iran, including the Society of Teachers and Researchers of Qom Seminary, Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, and Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, have called for the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi. However, all these requests have so far been fruitless. In the latest comments regarding the house arrest issue, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, stated on December 7: "One of the problems with the freedom of these individuals is the opinion and belief of some officials that if they do not apologize or repent, the system and leadership will be harmed. It is not a problem that some have a different opinion about 2009 than those under house arrest, but the fact that they have been under house arrest for six years is neither in accordance with the law nor with religious teachings." Mr. Motahari announced that a group of parliament members intends to meet with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and also with the detainees regarding the issue of lifting the house arrest. However, simultaneously with Mr. Motahari's remarks, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, stated that this institution is ready to prosecute Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard. Mr. Ejei considered the National Security Council's resolution for the house arrest of these individuals still valid and stated that the judiciary is prepared to prosecute them if the National Security Council's resolution changes. Previously, in response to the house arrest of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard, he had said: "If there were no Islamic clemency and considerations of the National Security Council, the leaders of sedition and their followers should have been prosecuted as criminals and sentenced to the maximum punishment." Despite the threats regarding the prosecution of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, they have repeatedly called for their own trial, and Mehdi Karroubi, in a letter to Hassan Rouhani, emphasized that he does not consider the lifting of the house arrest to be "in his hands," asking him to request the "tyrannical regime" to put him on trial in a "public court." In this context, the daughters of Mousavi have expressed serious concerns about their father's health status, and Karroubi's child emphasized that his father is "eager" for a public trial. The judiciary's readiness to prosecute the leaders of the protests against the 2009 election results has been reiterated by Motahari, who stated that the house arrest of Mousavi, Rahnavard, and Karroubi is unconstitutional. Motahari also mentioned that the leadership's opinion is to continue the house arrest, and other officials do not intervene in this matter.