Latest news with #Karroubi
Washington Post
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
A son says a leader of Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests will be freed from house arrest
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — One of the leaders of Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests will be released from house arrest in the coming weeks, his son told state media Monday. However, previous speculation that he would be released failed to come true. Mehdi Karroubi, a Shiite cleric, parliament speaker and two-time presidential candidate, has been held in his home since the 2011 Arab Spring protests . His son, Hossein Karroubi, told the state-run IRNA news agency that security officials told his father he'd be freed in early April. He did not identify the officials but said Iran's judiciary had issued the order. There was no immediate acknowledgement of any order concerning the octogenarian Karroubi. Mehdi Karroubi had backed the 2009 presidential candidacy of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who also was put under house arrest in 2011 after calling for demonstrations in support of protests in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring. State media was ordered not to discuss them or show their images. In 2009, Karroubi rallied the public in mass protests over allegations of vote-rigging in hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed reelection as president. Those protests drew millions to the streets and sparked a heavy-handed security crackdown as demonstrators soon demanded the overthrow of Iran's Shiite theocracy and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Asharq Al-Awsat
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran Opposition Leader Karroubi to be Freed from House Arrest, His Son Says
Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi will be released from house arrest on Monday, state media reported, 14 years after he was detained for calling for a rally in support of protests that swept the Arab world in 2011. "My father was told by security agents that his house arrest will end today," his son Hossein Karroubi told state news agency IRNA, adding that security agents would remain at the premises until April 8 due to security concerns. The 87-year-old, ailing mid-level cleric has remained defiant, questioning the legitimacy of the clerical establishment in statements published by pro-reform websites. After calling for a rally in solidarity with pro-democracy uprisings, Karroubi - along with ex-prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, a prominent academic - were put under house arrest in February 2011. They have not been put on trial or publicly charged, Reuters reported. Former parliament speaker Karroubi and Mousavi ran for election in 2009 and became figureheads for Iranians who staged eight months of mass protests after a vote they believed was rigged to bring back hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Karroubi's son Hossein told pro-reform Jamaran news website that his father demanded the release of Mousavi. "They told my father that the same process ... would be carried out for Mousavi within the next few months and Mousavi too would be released," the Jamaran website quoted him as saying. Iran's judiciary made no comment. Karroubi, like Mousavi and Rahnavard, had been under round-the-clock surveillance by security guards initially living in his home. But conditions improved in past years for Karroubi, with some family and politicians allowed to visit him. Suffering from various medical complications, Karroubi has been taken to hospital several times for heart surgery and treatment. During his election campaign, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian promised to make an effort for their release.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A son says a leader of Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests will be freed from house arrest
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of the leaders of Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests will be released from house arrest in the coming weeks, his son told state media Monday. However, previous speculation that he would be released failed to come true. Mehdi Karroubi, a Shiite cleric, parliament speaker and two-time presidential candidate, has been held in his home since the 2011 Arab Spring protests. His son, Hossein Karroubi, told the state-run IRNA news agency that security officials told his father he'd be freed in early April. He did not identify the officials but said Iran's judiciary had issued the order. There was no immediate acknowledgement of any order concerning the octogenarian Karroubi. Mehdi Karroubi had backed the 2009 presidential candidacy of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who also was put under house arrest in 2011 after calling for demonstrations in support of protests in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring. State media was ordered not to discuss them or show their images. In 2009, Karroubi rallied the public in mass protests over allegations of vote-rigging in hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed reelection as president. Those protests drew millions to the streets and sparked a heavy-handed security crackdown as demonstrators soon demanded the overthrow of Iran's Shiite theocracy and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Independent
17-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
A son says a leader of Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests will be freed from house arrest
One of the leaders of Iran 's 2009 Green Movement protests will be released from house arrest in the coming weeks, his son told state media Monday. However, previous speculation that he would be released failed to come true. Mehdi Karroubi, a Shiite cleric, parliament speaker and two-time presidential candidate, has been held in his home since the 2011 Arab Spring protests. His son, Hossein Karroubi, told the state-run IRNA news agency that security officials told his father he'd be freed in early April. He did not identify the officials but said Iran's judiciary had issued the order. There was no immediate acknowledgement of any order concerning the octogenarian Karroubi. Mehdi Karroubi had backed the 2009 presidential candidacy of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who also was put under house arrest in 2011 after calling for demonstrations in support of protests in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring. State media was ordered not to discuss them or show their images. In 2009, Karroubi rallied the public in mass protests over allegations of vote-rigging in hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed reelection as president. Those protests drew millions to the streets and sparked a heavy-handed security crackdown as demonstrators soon demanded the overthrow of Iran's Shiite theocracy and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Associated Press
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
A son says a leader of Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests will be freed from house arrest
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of the leaders of Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests will be released from house arrest in the coming weeks, his son told state media Monday. However, previous speculation that he would be released failed to come true. Mehdi Karroubi, a Shiite cleric, parliament speaker and two-time presidential candidate, has been held in his home since the 2011 Arab Spring protests. His son, Hossein Karroubi, told the state-run IRNA news agency that security officials told his father he'd be freed in early April. He did not identify the officials but said Iran's judiciary had issued the order. There was no immediate acknowledgement of any order concerning the octogenarian Karroubi. Mehdi Karroubi had backed the 2009 presidential candidacy of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who also was put under house arrest in 2011 after calling for demonstrations in support of protests in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring. State media was ordered not to discuss them or show their images. In 2009, Karroubi rallied the public in mass protests over allegations of vote-rigging in hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed reelection as president. Those protests drew millions to the streets and sparked a heavy-handed security crackdown as demonstrators soon demanded the overthrow of Iran's Shiite theocracy and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
