Moussavi ‘prevented from joining protests’

Ardeshir Amirarjomand, senior advisor to Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, spoke to euronews this afternoon in a phone interview from Sweden about today’s events in Iran.

“Two hours ago Mr Moussavi, Mr Karroubi and Mrs Rahnavard were going to take part in the demonstrations but the security forces stopped them. They seized Mr Moussavi’s car keys from his bodyguards. Mr Moussavi has not been able to leave his house and they have parked a big car in front of his front door so no-one can pass.”

Ardeshir Amirarjomand was asked if the support for the peoples of Egypt and Tunisia had been a pretext of the opposition to call for this demonstration.

“There has been no pretext, we have called for a demonstration in support for the freedom-seeking movements in the region, and if the Iranian government thinks that the Iranian people’s situation is the same as the situation of the Tunisian and Egyptian peoples, then that is another matter,” he said.

“We had applied for official permission to hold demonstrations based on a genuine intention to support the peoples in the region and we are also calling for democracy and freedom for the Iranian people.”

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