An ally of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi has been detained, a reformist Web site said, in the latest move signaling increased pressure by the authorities on pro-reform foes of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mowjcamp.com said Alireza Hosseini Beheshti, who heads an opposition committee looking into alleged abuse of imprisoned protesters after the disputed June election, was detained on Tuesday on the orders of Tehran’s prosecutor.
He is the son of Ayatollah Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti, who was head of Iran’s supreme court for about a year after its 1979 Islamic revolution and killed in a 1981 bombing attack.
There was no immediate comment from officials on the report.
The same Web site on Tuesday said that a top aide of pro-reform cleric Mehdi Karoubi, former Tehran mayor Morteza Alviri, had been detained.
Also on Tuesday, judiciary officials closed down Karoubi’s office in northern Tehran and seized documents and computer data discs, the ILNA news agency reported earlier.
Beheshti has issued estimates of the number of people killed in post-election unrest that are much higher than the official death toll of about 26 people. The opposition says more than 70 people died during the street protests.
Mousavi and Karoubi, who finished second and fourth respectively in the election, say the poll was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad’s re-election. The authorities deny the charge.
Karoubi, whose newspaper was closed down three weeks ago, angered hardliners early last month by saying some imprisoned protesters were raped and abused in jail.
The authorities have rejected the allegation as baseless, but the judiciary and parliament have agreed to look into the issue.
Karoubi said on his party’s Web site this week he had handed over films and other material about abuse of three detainees to a special investigative parliamentary committee.
In other news, state-run television reported yesterday that Tehran would “very soon” hand over its package of proposals to ambassadors in Tehran representing the major powers.
Tehran has said the package addresses global “challenges,” including nuclear cooperation, but has also made clear it is not prepared to negotiate on its disputed atomic activities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday the proposals were to be delivered to the six powers — the US, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain — yesterday, without saying how and where it would happen.
Al-Alam, Iran’s Arabic-language TV station, said it would take place in Tehran, with the Swiss ambassador representing the US. At the same time in Brussels, Iran’s ambassador would submit it to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, it said.
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