Iran Opposition Leaders to Stay Under House Arrest, Fars Says

Iranian opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, will remain under house arrest, where they’ve been detained for more than a year, the state-run Fars news agency said, citing Prosecutor-General Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said.

“You can be assured that there won’t be changes in their situation as they have done wrong to people and created insecurity in the country,” Fars quoted Mohseni-Ejei as saying. “They are in their homes and aren’t allowed to go out.”

Mousavi and Karrubi were defeated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a 2009 election that sparked nationwide protests because of allegations of voter fraud. The two have been described by Iranian authorities as “leaders of the sedition” and accused of being backed by foreign powers.

Mousavi and Karrubi were put under house arrest in February 2011 after they sought to revive opposition movements by calling for a rally in solidarity with protesters who brought down Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Dubai at lnasseri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net