Veteran Iranian actor Ezzatollah Entezami has written a letter to President Rohani calling for an end to the house arrest of the opposition leaders detained for the 2009 election protests, MirHosein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi.
Entezami calls on the president to live up to his campaign promise to end the house arrest and expressed concern about “problems remaining unresolved” and the entrenchment of those problems with the “persistence of indifference toward them”.
In his letter dated February 21, Entezami writes that ending the house arrests will result in “confidence building and the strengthening of national unity”.
Entezami writes: “How is that you can sit and negotiate over national interests with world powers and finally reach a resolution, but you cannot sit at the table with our country’s officials to negotiate over national interests? It is not possible to leave such a vital matter without a resolution.”
MirHosein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard as well as Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since February 2011 for challenging the 2009 presidential election outcome and triggering widespread street protests.
Entezami stresses that Iran belongs to Iranians of every opinion and creed and there needs to be talk of “national reconciliation”.
Entezami urges President Rohani to mark the coming Iranian year (March 20) with the resolution of this situation and the ending of the house arrests, which he stresses will be cause for “the promotion of national unity”.
The 92-year-old veteran actor has appeared in more than 55 films throughout his career, including many award-winning films such as Gaav (The Cow) and Dayereh Mina (The Cycle).
