Iran threatens to arrest opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi

Civil disobedience has folowed Mr Mousavi's defeat in an allegedly fraudulent election in June

The God Regime unravels!

Dozens of government agents on motorbikes have surrounded the Tehran office of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the Iranian opposition leader, and the country's chief prosecutor is threatening to arrest him.

The moves come just one day after tens of thousands of students across the country staged the latest in a long series of demonstrations against a government the so-called "Green" movement regards as illegitimate.

Mr Mousavi is the former Prime Minister who was defeated by President Ahmadinejad in an allegedly fraudulent election in June. The regime appears to be stepping up the pressure on him to call off the six months of protests and civil disobedience that have followed.

This morning 30 to 40 plain-clothed motorcyclists, almost certainly members of the hardline basij militia, surrounded the Academy of Fine Arts in Tehran where Mr Mousavi works. They blocked the entrances and shouted insults at him.

As Mr Mousavi was holed up at the academy, Iran's chief prosecutor told journalists that he could be charged and hauled before a court. "I declare that from today there will be no tolerance," Gholam Hossein Mohsen said.

Asked if Mr Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, another defeated candidate who has become the most outspoken leader of the Green movement, could be arrested, he replied: "We are required to defend public rights."

Mr Mohsen even suggested that Tehran's prosecutor could face prosecution if he did not act against the opposition leaders. "We will warn and take other necessary measures even against the Tehran prosecutor if he is not sensitive about those who violate people's rights and disrupt order in the city every day," he said.

In a warning to demonstrators that the regime's patience was running out, he said: "Intelligence and security ... forces have been ordered not to give any leeway to those who break the law, act against national security and disturb public order."

Hardliners have long demanded the arrest of the opposition leaders, but the regime has hesitated for fear of bringing millions of their supporters out of the streets. "There would be a massive backlash and there could be violence," one opposition activist told The Times.

For half-a-year now the regime has sought to crush the opposition by detaining and beating activists, and to stop the mass demonstrations by flooding the streets with security forces, but without success.

Late last week Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, adopted a new tack. He asked Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president with one foot in the opposition camp, to persuade its leader to relent. He refused.

Mr Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, attended Monday's demonstrations and opposition websites said she was later detained. Security forces reportedly prevented Mr Mousavi and Mr Karoubi from joining the protests. Opposition websites said Mr Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, reached Tehran University but was attacked with pepper spray by female basiji and forced to leave.


Iran threatens to arrest opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi - Times Online