Iranian Reformist cleric to be freed from house arrest after 14 years

Mehdi Karroubi, a presidential candidate at the center of deadly 2009 protests, is set to be released from house arrest after 14 years, his son said on Monday.

"Security officers met my father and said his arrest would be lifted today on orders of the head of the judiciary," Karroubi's son Hossein Karroubi told Jamaran, a semi-official newspaper linked to Iran's Reformist political faction.

Karroubi's political ally, former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, would also be released from house arrest in the coming months, he added.

In the 2009 presidential election, which resulted in the controversial re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Karroubi, now 87, and Mousavi, 83, ran on a reformist platform. The outcome sparked mass protests, known as the Green Movement, with demonstrators alleging widespread electoral fraud."

Both were detained in 2011 after taking a leading role in the protests, though they were not put on trial or publicly charged.

Karroubi’s son, however, added that his father had been told that security officers would be present at his home until April 8 to ensure his protection.

Iran's official news agency IRNA also reported on Karroubi's release, but did not refer to Mousavi's case.

Last year, Hossein Karroubi told Ensaf News that his father would refuse release from house arrest while Mousavi remained detained.

Iran's current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, promised during his election campaign to release both politicians.