Tehran Prosecutor rejects claims of Ali Karroubi arrest

Tehran’s Prosecutor has dismissed reports that the son of opposition figure and former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi was arrested on Thursday.

“The minute I heard media reports that Ali Karroubi had been arrested [in demonstrations on Thursday evening], I pursued the matter and began making enquiries about the allegation,” said Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi on Monday.

“I was soon informed by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, the Iranian police department and the Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps that nothing of the sort had occurred,” he continued, adding that there was no record, or proof that a man by the name of ‘Ali Karroubi’ had been arrested that day.

Jafari Dolatabadi said if Ali Karroubi had been in fact arrested as he claims so, he “should come out and announce the place he was hold and the reasons for which he was apprehended.”

Millions of Iranians across the country took to the streets on Thursday to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

A few hundred of supporters of former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi also rallied in a western Tehran district prompting the police to seal off the area in order to prevent possible disturbances.

Ali Karroubi, who attended the protests with his father, had earlier claimed that he was arrested by security officials.

Jafari Dolatabadi said the few people who were arrested during Thursday’s protests have all been released later in the day.