Is Iran’s former Reformist president under house arrest?
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was prevented from leaving his home to attend a meeting with other political figures.
According to Iranian opposition websites, security forces prevented former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, a Reformist, from leaving his house to attend an unspecified ceremony Oct. 18. Saham News, which is affiliated with Mehdi Karroubi, a Green Movement leader who is currently under house arrest, wrote that three cars belonging to security forces had parked outside Khatami’s home and prevented him from leaving.
Though details about the ceremony that Khatami was to attend are unknown, news reports state that Khatami had intended to meet with political figures. Security forces instructed Khatami and his security detail that they would not be permitted to leave the house. Afterward, security forces remained outside Khatami's house.
According to Saham News, the situation was eerily similar to when Green Movement leaders Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard were put under house arrest. The three leaders had questioned the outcome of the 2009 presidential election and called for street protests. They have been under house arrest for over six years without trial. Khatami remained a supporter of the Green Movement leaders, and hard-line media outlets would often refer to him, along with Karroubi and Mousavi, as “leaders of the sedition,” which is the term they use for the 2009 postelection protests.
According to later reports, security forces eventually left the vicinity of Khatami’s house, which suggests the ban was temporary and event-specific. Kaleme website said this was not the first time Khatami had been physically barred from leaving his house. Earlier in October it was reported, and later confirmed by Khatami’s lawyer, that the judiciary had banned the former president from attending public events, whether political or cultural, for three months.
