Motahari: The Only Solution to Lift the House Arrest is a Question from the Leadership Assembly

Simultaneously with the statements of Mehdi Karroubi's son that the government will only lift the house arrest of the leaders of the movement under "special internal or global conditions," Ali Motahari, a member of parliament, considered the only solution to lift the house arrest to be a "question" from the Assembly of Experts to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Tuesday, December 20, Motahari rejected reports about the Supreme National Security Council's opposition to lifting the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders, adding: "It's not like that. In the Security Council meeting, when they say the leadership is opposed, the members do not vote." According to Motahari, the "only legal way" to lift the house arrest is for the Assembly of Experts to "talk to" the Supreme Leader or "ask him questions and discuss until the issue is resolved." Previously, some other political figures, including Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, had stated that lifting the house arrest is only possible with the Supreme Leader's approval. According to Hossein Karroubi, based on information leaked from private meetings, "there is no support for lifting the house arrest among the country's senior officials." Meanwhile, in an interview with the Tuesday edition of the newspaper "Etemad," Hossein Karroubi stated that "the issue of lifting the house arrest has never been seriously discussed among the senior officials of the system and the Supreme National Security Council, which is responsible for pursuing this issue." According to Karroubi, the government will only be willing to lift the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders under "special internal or global conditions," and otherwise, there will be no lifting of the house arrest. Two days prior to these statements, Hesamoddin Ashna, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani, stated: "What needed to happen by the government and the President as the head of the Supreme National Security Council has happened" and "only a shell remains until the lifting of the house arrest." However, Hossein Karroubi said that Ashna's remarks referred to the "slight opening" that has occurred regarding the house arrest. In recent months, reports have emerged about the lifting of some restrictions on Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard. Events such as the visit of Mehdi Karroubi's relatives with him during Nowruz, "opening the welded windows" of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard's home, and allowing them to meet with their children and Mousavi's brother are among these occurrences. Ismail Doosti, a member of the National Trust Party, and Mojtaba Zolnouri, a representative from the Front of Steadfastness in parliament, have also met with Mehdi Karroubi at his place of house arrest. Zahra Rahnavard reported in May that she had recently been verbally offered "limited mobility rights" with the knowledge of the agents, which she rejected.