GVF — After almost seven months of illegal house arrest and isolation, Iranian opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi says he will continue with his uncompromising stance despite mounting state pressure.
According to Saham news, the official website of Karroubi’s National Trust Party, the Green Movement leader was able meet with his family on Wednesday which coincided with the Eid Al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The website reported that Karroubi’s son (Hossein), wife (Fatemeh), daughter in laugh and grandchildren were also present at the family reunion.
“I hadn’t seen my father for close to seven months; which means since the first day the house arrest began,” Hossein Karroubi told Saham news. “… I was suddenly informed about the security forces’ agreement to let my family, my mother and I meet with my father. Therefore today around noon we went to the building where he’s been held since for the past month.”
Hossein Karroubi also pointed out that his father’s mental and physical condition was “desirable.” “Throughout the visit, he spoke about [different] matters with great morale, just like before, and he stood on his previous positions more firmly than before.”
In recent days, websites close to the Iranian regime had been claiming that Karroubi was preparing to release a statement announcing his “repentance” for his uncompromising stance following the aftermath of the rigged 2009 presidential election.
During his meeting with his father, Hossein Karroubi reportedly briefed the cleric about the alleged “repentance letter.” “In response, he said, ‘I’m reaffirm my position and beliefs, and I won’t back down an iota’.”
“The regime and intelligence forces have in the past seven months become very familiar with my character and know my positions, they’ve come to understand how I think, this is why they won’t allow themselves to ‘guide’ and ‘instruct’ me, let alone trying to get me to write a repentance letter,” Karroubi is reported to have said.
Security forces also promised to transfer Mr Karroubi to a more appropriate location with access to a yard and open air. They also spoke about the possibility of Karroubi’s wife, Fatemeh Karroubi, joining her husband in captivity. Currently, the Intelligence Ministry is responsible for providing Mr Karroubi with food and basic necessities, Saham news added.
In an interview with the website news, Karroubi’s wife recently said her husband had been separated and moved to a new, tiny apartment on 1 August 2011 and that there had been no communication from him since 16 July 2011.
Mahdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, two presidential candidates who challenged the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, were placed under house arrested after calling for protests in support of the Arab Spring on 14 February.
Nearly 200 days later and despite international condemnation of their house arrest, there has been no judicial process whatsoever initiated by their captors.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran recently stated that it held Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “directly responsible for the safety and health of Karroubi and Mousavi and calls on him to immediately release them.”