New Account from Rahnavard on the Day of 'House Arrest': They Put Blindfolds and Gags on Us and Chains on Our Feet

One of Zahra Rahnavard's daughters shared a story on Instagram featuring part of her mother's account of the day when the 'house arrest' of Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife began. According to this account, during the assault by security forces on their home, the agents 'put blindfolds and gags on them' and 'bound heavy chains to their feet.' This post, titled 'Forced Kidnapping,' relates to Zahra Rahnavard's account of February 14, 2011, when, following a call from protesters against 'election fraud' in solidarity with the 'Arab Spring,' two candidates who contested the results of the 2009 presidential election, along with their wives, were placed under house arrest. Rahnavard wrote that on that day, 'unknown masked men' 'attacked' her and her husband at their home, and after blindfolding them and putting gags on them, they 'threw them into a deserted basement in a remote location.' According to this account, after this action, the agents demanded that they 'repent.' A point that Rahnavard noted is that 'this demand from the rulers is the refrain of our imprisonment and house arrest.' Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was one of the main figures in the Iranian government during one of the darkest periods of the Islamic Republic, joined the opposition during the controversial 2009 election, which was accompanied by widespread protests against 'election fraud' and the suppression of protesters. Nevertheless, his record in the 1980s has always been criticized by opponents of the Islamic Republic, and his role in the repressions of that decade has been frequently mentioned. Mir Hossein Mousavi was the last Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic during the leadership of Ruhollah Khomeini and before the constitutional revision in 1989. Mousavi was a presidential candidate in the 2009 government election and was a rival of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and afterward, he became known as one of the leaders of the nationwide protests that became known as the 'Green Movement.' Mr. Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard have been under house arrest since February 2011. In 2022, following nationwide protests that began after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the 'morality police,' Mousavi issued a statement calling for a transition from the Islamic Republic and the formation of a 'Constituent Assembly' to determine the future type of government. Mousavi's daughter stated that he has been discharged from the hospital after being hospitalized due to 'severe drug sensitivity.' The house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard has reached 5000 days. The son of Karroubi reacted to the renewed claim of 'lifting the house arrest': the house arrest continues, and its conditions have become harsher.