All contact has been cut off with MirHosein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, the Iranian opposition leaders held under house arrest.
The Kaleme opposition website reports that Mousavi and Rahnavard, who have been under house arrest since February, are now being held under complete quarantine.
Ever since they were last allowed a brief and heavily guarded visit with their daughter, they have been denied even the few infrequent phone calls to their family that were once allowed.
On September 7, Kaleme reported that Mousavi and Rahnavard had finally been allowed a brief visit from their daughter in the presence of a top judiciary official.
In terms of the burning debate over the coming parliamentary elections and whether reformists should take part in them, Kaleme quotes Mousavi as saying: “In view of the persistence of the current situation, there is no point for the reformists to run in the parliamentary elections.”
He had also directed people to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Report of a Kidnapping if they wished to understand his situation under house arrest.
The book rapidly sold out in bookstores, and translations of parts of it were posted on various websites.
Mousavi and his wife were put under house arrest last February, as were Mehdi Karroubi and his wife, after the two men rallied supporters to demonstrate in solidarity with the Arab uprisings in the region.
The opposition leaders have not been charged with any crime. The authorities have denied that they are in fact under house arrest, saying instead that the government’s actions are for their own good.
