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Iranian security forces ease restriction on opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi who has been put under house arrest. (Raheb Homavandi/Reuters)


Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi who has been put under house arrest. (Raheb Homavandi/Reuters)

Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi who has been put under house arrest. (Raheb Homavandi/Reuters)

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iranian authorities have eased restrictions on detained opposition cleric Mehdi Karroubi, one of the main leaders of the country’s opposition Green Movement as well as anti-government protests in 2009.

Karroubi has been transferred from an apartment operated by the security services at an undisclosed location to his own home, though he remains under house arrest.

“At last, after three years, my father has been transferred with the security forces to his home in Tehran’s Jamaran area, where his house arrest will continue under the same security standards,” Karroubi’s son Mohammad Taghi Karroubi wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.

He noted that the security forces are now located on the first floor of Mehdi Karroubi’s home.

Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, now in their 70s and in ill health, led the Green Movement that launched mass protests against the results of the 2009 the presidential poll that returned former Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office.

At least 27 people were killed and hundreds jailed in a violent state crackdown during the 2009 protests, the largest opposition demonstrations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Karroubi and Mousavi, both candidates in the 2009 election, have reportedly been held under house arrest for the last three years, as has Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard.

Karroubi’s other son, Mohammed Hussein Karroubi, told the ISNA news agency that his father’s living conditions had improved in recent weeks and he had been allowed regular weekly visits at the location where he had been detained.

Nevertheless his father still faced a number of restrictions, he said without elaborating.

“During the past eight months, my father has had four surgeries due to the poor condition of his detention centre,” he added.

The move, although it brings a small change in Karroubi’s situation, is considered as a positive move, as many in Iran expect Hassan Rouhani’s government to seek the release of many political prisoners including Karroubi, Mousavi, and Ranavard.