Iran's Supreme Council approves the release of Green Wave leaders Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi
Confirmed by Karroubi's son, Hossein. The decision must be submitted to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Aim to unite population in face of US sanctions. The rial devalued to historic lowest: 113 thousand to the dollar.
Tehran (AsiaNews) - The Supreme National Security Council has approved the release of Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest for the past seven years for leading the mass protests of 2009, which became known as the "Green Wave" and were violently repressed by the regime .
There is still no official confirmation, but the news was announced by Hossein Karroubi, son of the reformist prisoner and broadcast by some local media.
He himself explained that "such a decision will be presented to the supreme leader, so this case will be concluded". The supreme leader, ie the ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has 10 days to veto the decision.
Moussavi, 76, and Karroubi, 80, were reformist candidates in the 2009 elections, won by radical Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They and a large part of the population, especially young people, claimed election of fraud and for months there were mass demonstrations with hundreds of thousands of participants. The Green Wave revolt led to a new period of repression, which decreased only after the election of Hassan Rouhani in 2013.
In February 2011, the two leaders were placed under house arrest, along with Moussavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard.
Rouhani, who posed as a moderate leader and received the support of the followers of Mousavi and Kharroubi, has often attempted to free them.
According to some observers, this is a good time because with the increase in US sanctions, following Washington's rejection of the nuclear agreement, it is urgent to safeguard national unity.
Hossein Karroubi also said that the National Security Council had agreed to remove the restrictions on Mohammad Khatami, a moderate who was president from 1997 to 2005.
Meanwhile, due to US sanctions, the Iranian economy is struggling and the rial has been devalued again.
Yesterday in the black market, 113 thousand rials were needed for a dollar: the lowest level ever reached in its history.
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