Rouhani Expresses Hope for Lifting House Arrest

The spokesperson for the so-called 'Hope' faction in the Iranian Parliament reported that President Hassan Rouhani has once again expressed hope regarding the lifting of house arrest for Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard. Bahram Parsai told ISNA that Rouhani mentioned this during a meeting on Tuesday, July 23, with 'members of the Hope faction's board, members of the Hope faction in the board of the Parliament, and the heads of the Hope committees in the Parliament.' According to the spokesperson, the Iranian president reiterated his 'opposition' to lifting the house arrest but added that 'there are specific conditions that must be met, although progress has been good, some obstacles have been removed, and resolving this issue is moving forward.' The report did not specify what Rouhani meant by these specific conditions. Rouhani's comments come at a time when Gholamreza Heydari, a member of the committee for lifting house arrest in Parliament, reported on May 21 that there was 'implicit agreement' from the Supreme Leader regarding lifting the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 protests, while several members of this committee criticized Rouhani's performance and called for him to take more serious action on this issue. Heydari added in an interview with Shargh newspaper that 'now that whispers indicate implicit agreement from the leadership to lift the house arrest, it is better for Mr. President to enter this matter with the necessary precision and speed so that the issue reaches a conclusion.' He emphasized that 'no excuses from the President are acceptable anymore.' In recent months, some members of Parliament had expressed hope that the seven-year house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 protests would soon end with promises from security and judicial officials, but after these promises were not fulfilled, Ali Motahari stated that there seemed to be a disagreement between judicial and security officials on this matter. Some members of Parliament have announced that the decision regarding lifting the house arrest has been handed over to the Supreme National Security Council. Meanwhile, according to Bahram Parsai, the spokesperson for the Hope faction in Parliament, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, told members of this faction that the issue of house arrest 'has been approved by the Supreme National Security Council, and matters that go to the Security Council cannot be raised in the judiciary, so the judiciary can no longer intervene in it.' Hassan Rouhani had promised to lift the house arrest in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, and since the beginning of 2018, criticism from reformist figures regarding his failure to pursue the issue of house arrest has increased. Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, stated on April 10 that the 'system' and the Supreme Leader 'want' the issue of the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders 'to be resolved.' Khatami added, 'The organization that should resolve this issue is either being sluggish or is incapable, and this is where Mr. President and other friends must become active and resolve it.' The promise to lift the house arrest of the leaders protesting the results of the 2009 elections has not been fulfilled by Hassan Rouhani, and only in recent months have there been changes in the situation of the house arrest, including that several political activists have managed to have individual meetings with Mr. Karroubi, and the restrictions regarding the scheduling of meetings for Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard with their daughters have also been lifted. Behrouz Namati, a member of the Parliament's board, also stated on the first of Farvardin that Mehdi Karroubi's letter to the Supreme Leader has caused a delay in the process of lifting the house arrest. This was confirmed in an interview with Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi's son, who said that 'three members of the security apparatus' informed his mother that Mehdi Karroubi's letter to the Supreme Leader has obstructed the lifting of his house arrest. According to Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, Fatemeh Karroubi told these security officials that 'if you have any sincerity in your statements, then end the house arrest of Engineer Mousavi and Mrs. Rahnavard, who have not written any letters.' In his open letter on January 30 of last year to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mehdi Karroubi held him responsible for the current political, economic, cultural, and social situation in Iran.