The Supreme National Security Council Has Not Approved Lifting the House Arrest

One day after Mehdi Karroubi's son announced that the Supreme National Security Council had approved lifting the house arrest of the leaders of the Green Movement, a member of parliament quoted Ali Larijani as denying the existence of such a resolution. Gholamreza Heydari, a representative from Tehran, stated on Sunday, July 29, to the ILNA news agency that after hearing news about the approval of lifting the house arrest in the Supreme National Security Council, he followed up with Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, who did not confirm the validity of this news. This parliament member expressed regret over the inaccuracy of this news, saying, "For the national interests of the country, especially in these conditions where there is a climate of despair, tension, and conflict, one of the most necessary actions is lifting the house arrest." On Saturday, Hossein Karroubi stated in an interview with the 'Ensaf News' website, citing a reliable source, that the Supreme National Security Council had approved the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard in its last meeting, and if the Supreme Leader does not comment on it within 10 days after the approval, this resolution will become enforceable. Gholamreza Heydari mentioned to ILNA, "We were all very happy to hear this news, but the reality is that this matter seems to be untrue." Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest without a judicial order since March 2011, and Iranian officials have repeatedly indicated that decision-making in this regard is exclusively in the hands of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, last April, a number of parliament members announced that decision-making regarding lifting the house arrest had been delegated to the Supreme National Security Council. Since mid-last year, changes in the conditions of the house arrest have occurred, and some relatives of the detainees have met with them, with reports of Ismail Doosti and Mojtaba Zolnoor meeting with Mehdi Karroubi. Nevertheless, Zahra Rahnavard reported in May that she had recently been verbally offered "limited mobility rights" with the knowledge of the agents, which she rejected. Hassan Rouhani had promised to lift the house arrest in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, and since the beginning of 2018, criticisms from reformist figures regarding his failure to pursue the issue of house arrest have increased. Heather Nauert, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, called for the release of them and all political prisoners in Iran in a statement last February on the seventh anniversary of the house arrest of Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mehdi Karroubi, stating that the continued house arrest of these three individuals "violates Iran's international obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to ensure fair trial and prevent arbitrary detention and imprisonment of citizens."