The children of Iranian opposition leaders have issued separate letters expressing grave concerns regarding the well-being of their parents.
The daughters of Zahra Rahnavard and MirHosein Mousavi have not seen their parents in two weeks, and their last contact with them was February 14.
In the letter published on Iranian opposition websites, they write that they have attempted to visit their parents several times, but the security forces have aggressively turned them away and prevented them from entering their home.
They say they have often remained in the vicinity until late into the evening and noticed that after dark no lights were turned on in the house, and there appeared to be “no signs of life” in the building.
They report that two steel gates were built at the entrance to the dead-end alley where their parent live, adding: “Our parents were not prosecuted in any legitimate court and we know that they have committed no crime. But we know that the installation of the two steel doors does not bode well. And the fact that no lights go on in the building also bodes ill.”
The three sons of Mehdi Karroubi have also written a letter to the authorities regarding the house arrest of their own parents.
They report that their parents’ home has been under a siege for two weeks.
For the first few days, they say, several of their parents’ guards would pass on information about their condition. But ever since security forces took over the building, they have had no news of their parents.
Karroubi’s sons remind the authorities of their father’s political activism and the pressures he endured from the ruling class prior to the 1979 Revolution in Iran, writing that they are “well familiar with the culture of struggle and resistance against oppression.”
“It is essential that senior government officials establish if there is any legal basis for such a house arrest,” the Karroubis write. “Secondly, has a court order been issued authorizing this, and if so, what is the scope of this house arrest?”
The two Iranian opposition leaders have been under house arrest since they rallied their supporters on February 14 in solidarity with the Arab uprisings. The protests, which showed that Iran’s Green Movement is still very much alive, has alarmed authorities and resulted in a harsher clampdown on the opposition.
