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Hossein Mousavi arrested in Iran: unconfirmed reports

by Amy Judd | June 13, 2009 at 11:39 am

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Some reports out of Iran today suggest that Ahmadinejad rival Hossein Mousavi has been arrested but these are still unconfirmed at this time. This would have occurred shortly after Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iran elections.

The source that reported this stated that Mousavi was arrested on his way to the home of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A prominent Iranian on Twitter, mousavi1388, is reporting that Hossein Mousavi is under house arrest:

Dear Iranian People, Mousavi has not left you alone, he has been put under house arrest by Ministry of Intelligence

These statements are hard to confirm however, because there are a number of contraditctory reports at this time, as there are currently so many restrictions on access to information from sites such as twitter, facebook and the use of text messages in the country.

It was also reported Saturday that former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani resigned from all of his official positions in protest against the results of the election, which Mousavi denounced as rigged.

The Daily Kos is reporting;

Mousavi has been place under house arrest. He was arrested on his way to Khamenei’s house. All communication has been shut off. Khamenei has issued a statement claiming that HE that he is leading this coup to SAVE the Islamic Government

There have been mass protests throughout Iran today after Mousavi was declared to have lost the elections, with some of the riots turning violent.
The riots are the most serious unrest in Tehran in decades.

Mousavi has said the results were rigged and stated on his website:

"I'm warning that I won't surrender to this manipulation," said a statemnt on Mousavi's Web site. "The outcome of what we've seen from the performance of officials ... is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Repulec of Iran's sacred system and governance of lies and dictatorship," it added.

Mousavi appealed to Khamenei to intervene in the matter as he holds ultimate political authority in the country.

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Babel-Fish

at 17:20 on June 13th, 2009

I think that there is every possibility of a civil war or a threat of one, if Mousavi has been arrested it will be because of just that. Ahmadinejad if not really supported by the people will need to call in the millitary, but will the millitary support him?

Uwe Paschen

at 19:36 on June 13th, 2009

I do not think it is wise to arrest him even if he has not accepted the outcome of the elections and may cause trouble or challenge the elections, Iran high courts need to be put in charge of this.