Some Detainees Protesting the Continued House Arrest of Green Movement Leaders Released

According to some political activists, a number of protesters against the continued house arrest of Green Movement leaders, who were detained on Wednesday and Thursday, have been released, but there is no information on the status of several detainees. This "silent gathering" was supposed to take place on Thursday, February 25, coinciding with the fourteenth anniversary of the house arrest of Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mehdi Karroubi. However, several of the organizers were arrested or confined to their homes on Wednesday and early Thursday, and numerous security forces prevented the gathering by being present in the streets around Tehran University. According to some political activists and reformist journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, about 250 detainees were temporarily released after interrogation at the police prevention building and are "awaiting contact for case follow-up." Hassan Asadi Zeydabadi, a political activist and former political prisoner, also wrote on social media that most detainees were released "shortly after being held" at police stations around Enghelab Street. Meanwhile, some political activists, including Mojtaba Lotfi, a student of Hossein Ali Montazeri, have stated that several detainees, including Mohammad Baqer Bakhtiar, have not yet been released. Reports have also emerged regarding the lack of information or continued detention and house arrest of Rahim Qamishi, Abdolrahim Soleimani Ardestani, and Nasser Daneshfar. Mohammad Baqer Bakhtiar, commander of the 114th Ilam Brigade and Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the war, and also Hossein Laghmani, a representative of the sixth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, were arrested on Thursday while attending the gathering. The exact number of detainees on Wednesday and Thursday is not clear, and security and judicial officials of the Islamic Republic have not made any official statements in this regard. Ardshir Amir Arjamand, senior advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi, told Radio Farda on Thursday that "a large number" have been detained. According to political activists, many of the detainees on Thursday were individuals who themselves or their family members participated in the Iran-Iraq war. Among those arrested or confined to their homes on Wednesday and Thursday were names such as Rahim Qamishi, Nasser Daneshfar, Mahmoud Dardakshan and his son Mohammad Javad, Saeed and Saeedeh Montazeri (children of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri), and Abdolrahim Soleimani.