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Iranian Opposition Leader Mehdi Karroubi Under House Arrest

Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has been put under house arrest, his official website says.

Security officials at the premises say the measures will last until next week, it adds. No one is being allowed to enter the house except his wife, reports BBC News.

Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, another opposition leader, had called for a rally on Monday to support the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

The authorities refused permission, calling it a political move.

Although Iran’s establishment supports the Egyptian popular protests, a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary said on Wednesday that Iranians seeking to show solidarity with Egyptian protesters should join a state-organised rally marking the 32nd anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution on Friday.

Choosing another day to hold a rally means that the opposition leaders “wish to be in a separate front and will create divisions”, he told a news conference in Tehran.

Karroubi, a 72-year-old cleric and former parliament speaker, ran against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the disputed 2009 election which returned the hardline leader to power.