Iran to release opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi from house arrest

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Iranian authorities will release opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, who has been under house arrest since 2011, his son said Monday.

“We received a note that my father's house arrest will be lifted upon orders from Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei,” Hossein Karroubi told state media.

He said security officers will remain in his father's home for another three weeks for security reasons.

Karroubi was placed under house arrest in 2011 over his support for protests that erupted following the 2009 presidential elections in Iran.

According to the Iranian newspaper Jamaran, Karroubi asked the Iranian authorities to lift the house arrest imposed on another opposition leader, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Local media reports said that Mousavi will be released from house arrest soon.

Karroubi and Mousavi, along with the latter's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, who protested the results of the June 12, 2009, presidential elections, were placed under house arrest on accusations from local authorities of supporting riots that broke out after the polls, a move denounced by the opposition as a violation of the law.