Zahra Rahnavard's Account of Arrest During House Arrest; Officers 'Chained Our Legs with Heavy Chains'

More than 500 individuals who identify themselves as 'patriots of the country' and from the families of those killed and injured in the Iran-Iraq war have announced plans to hold a gathering on the eve of the fifteenth anniversary of the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 protests, known as the 'Green Movement.' Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders protesting the results of the 2009 presidential election, have been under house arrest since February 14, 2011. Statements from Iranian officials, including the former commander of the police force, suggest that the house arrest of these three individuals was ordered by Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Concurrently, an account from Zahra Rahnavard regarding her and her husband Mir Hossein Mousavi's arrest and the nighttime raid by security forces on their home on February 13, 2011, has been published. In a call and statement requesting an end to the house arrest and announcing a gathering for this purpose, it is stated that the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi must end, and the signatories will gather in a 'legal and peaceful' manner to achieve this request. More than 4,600 political and civil activists have also supported this call by launching a 'campaign for the removal of house arrest.' In the statement from the signatories of the gathering call, it is noted that 'protest is the legal right of all people,' and the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders is 'a clear violation of the principles of the current constitution and the human rights of those under house arrest.' The statement also references the current problems and challenges facing the people of Iran, stating: 'The continuation of the current situation may lead to the destruction of the foundations of the country.' A campaign for the removal of the house arrest of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard had also been launched, which quickly garnered over 17,000 signatures. Ardshir Amir Arjamand, a senior advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi who is currently in France, reacted to the Islamic Republic's suppression of this movement within less than 48 hours, stating that this action is 'a sign of the regime's fear of the people.' Zahra Rahnavard, a leader of the Green Movement, recounted that fourteen years ago, on the first night of their house arrest, 'unknown masked men suddenly attacked' her and her husband, Mir Hossein Mousavi, from behind. In this account published on February 13, 2024, titled 'A Time and Place of Purgatory' on the 'Kalemeh' website, close to her and Mousavi, it is stated that security officers that night 'blindfolded and gagged' her and Mir Hossein Mousavi and 'chained their legs with heavy chains.' This political activist further wrote that that night 'dozens of officers' with 'harsh and ruthless faces' occupied their home on Akhtar Street, and a white van blocked the entrance to the alley. According to Zahra Rahnavard, after that, the officers changed the locks and keys of the house, turned the house 'upside down,' and installed long poles on the walls. The account mentions that books, artworks such as paintings and sculptures, political documents, and personal belongings in the house were also collected by the officers. Rahnavard continued to write that the Islamic Republic intended to eliminate them along with Mehdi Karroubi and his wife Fatemeh Karroubi, branding them as 'the ringleaders of the sedition that would be erased from the depths of the country's destiny.' Zahra Rahnavard also referred to aspects of the officers' treatment of her as a woman. She stated that the Islamic Republic was 'careful' not to mention her and Fatemeh Karroubi in the context of house arrest, or perhaps the imprisonment of a woman was 'insignificant and unmentionable' to the government officials. She added that the Islamic Republic wants 'female prisoners to remain nameless and unknown in prisons, or lest their resistance inspire protests from other young women.' Rahnavard also mentioned the officers' attempts for 'gender segregation' during house arrest, stating that she was asked to go to the other side of the building where female officers were present, which she opposed. This political activist, calling herself a 'freedom seeker,' claimed that she has been against compulsory hijab 'since the beginning of the revolution.' Rahnavard emphasized that hours before the start of house arrest and on the day of protests on February 14, 2011, when she wanted to join the rally called by Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, officers prevented her from leaving the alley. Zahra Rahnavard stated that a white van was blocking the street and the entrance to the alley, and plainclothes officers along with a judicial officer 'threatened her with weapons' and even 'pushed against her chest.' This political activist stated that security institutions turned their home into a prison resembling 'Guantanamo,' 'Bagram,' 'Alcatraz,' and 'the Bastille,' asserting that all these prisons were built by 'one employer,' namely 'Mr. Power.' Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two candidates in the controversial 2009 presidential election, claimed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in that election was the result of 'vote counting fraud' and 'interference by military institutions.' In response to their request to hold a rally on February 14, 2011, tens of thousands of people protested in Tehran and other cities in Iran, which was met with severe repression by security forces and widespread arrests. Additionally, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi's attempts to join the protesters were unsuccessful.