Baku, Azerbaijan, March 22
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian opposition leader under house arrest, Mehdi Karroubi met with his family, the opposition leader's son Hossein Karroubi said, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on March 22.
The 77-years-old Karroubi was granted permission to celebrate Iranian new year on March 20 with his family members without presence of the security forces, the report said.
On March 16, Iranian media outlets reported that the other opposition leaders under house arrest - Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard were unexpectedly permitted to meet with a group of teachers and families of political prisoners.
Karroubi, Mousavi and Rahnavard have been under house arrest since 2011 due to protests against the 2009 disputed presidential election.
In 2009, after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president of Iran for the second term, the opposition leaders protested the decision, which later resulted in massive protests across Iran, in particular in Tehran. Many people were arrested.
On March 18, the senior Iranian judiciary official Mohammad Javad Larijani said he hopes that Mousavi and Karroubi could be freed.
"We hope to see the lifting of house arrest after a final conclusion by judiciary and security officials," Larijani said without providing any further details.
Iranian hardliners argue that the opposition leaders should remain under house arrest until they "repent."
Iran's Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei accused the opposition leaders of "destruction of public property", claiming that they are also responsible for the people killed.
On February 11, Mohseni Ejei said "Their house arrest will not be lifted before they agree to repent."