Iran’s president negotiates release of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi
Iran’s newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian has successfully negotiated the release of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi from house arrest, sources have told Middle East Eye.
The sources said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accepted Karroubi’s release from house arrest, but refused the president’s request that fellow reformist opposition leader Mir Houssein Mosavi also be released.
It remains unclear when Karroubi, who is 86, is slated to be released. However, his son, Hossein Karroubi, told Iranian media on Wednesday that his father does not wish to be freed alone without Mousavi.
"Mir Hossein and I were both arrested at the same time, and if one day the detention is lifted, it must be lifted for both. I hope this will be done soon, but together,” Hossein Karroubi quoted his father as saying.
Karroubi, the leader of the National Confidence party, and Mousavi, the leader of the Green Movement, are among the highest-profile political prisoners in Iran. In 2009, the two leaders disputed the results of the presidential election, in which they were both running, that secured a second term for principlist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
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Karroubi and Mousavi said the election was rigged and Ahmedinejad was not the real winner, triggering mass protests across the country against the alleged election fraud. Dozens of protesters were killed by security forces.
In 2011, during the start of Arab Spring demonstrations that swept the region, Karroubi and Mousavi called for similar protests in Iran.
They were both put under house arrest in February 2011.
Releasing Karroubi and Mousavi has long been a goal for reformists. During his time in office, Ahmedinajad’s moderate successor, Hassan Rouhani, was unsuccessful in fulfilling his electoral promise to secure their release.
The Islamic Republic has said that the only way for Mousavi and Karroubi to be released is by repenting and accepting their "mistakes”.
A senior conservative source and a source close to the Pezeshkian administration confirmed to MEE that Pezeshkian has persuaded Khamenei to release Karroubi but failed to secure Mousavi’s release.
Unlike Karroubi, who took part in the past few elections, Mousavi has refused to vote, even calling for constitutional change.
The second source explained that the decision to release the opposition leader aligns with Pezeshkian's efforts to promote unity and reconciliation in the country.
He added that Karroubi had been allowed to meet people and visit some homes with the security apparatus's approval over the past four years. However, Mousavi had refused a similar offer to meet people after receiving security clearance.
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