Iran Releases Daughters of Opposition Leader

Iranian prosecutors have released the daughters of reformist opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi after they were briefly summoned for questioning, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported on Monday.

ILNA quoted an unnamed official as saying the daughters, Zahra and Narges Mousavi, had been summoned to give “explanations.” It did not elaborate.

An earlier report by an opposition website said the two were taken into custody after security agents searched their homes. The two women have campaigned to free their parents, who are both under house arrest, urging authorities to release them in an open letter in January.

The incident comes just days before the second anniversary of massive protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which falls on Wednesday.

Mir Hossein Mousavi was the leader of the Green Movement in the 2009 presidential race against Ahmadinejad. Amid allegations of vote rigging after Ahmadinejad won, he led massive opposition protests.

Mousavi, his wife Zahra Rahnavard and another Ahmadinejad challenger, Mahdi Karroubi, have been under house arrest since February 2011. No formal charges have been made against them.

This article appeared in print on page 2 of the February 12th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.