EU and US urge Iran to free Mousavi
The European Union, along with the United States, has called on Iran to release opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi who has been under house arrest since 2011 together with his wife and Mehdi Karroubi.
During the 2009 Iranian Presidential elections, Mousavi ran as one of two reformist candidates against the administration of the current Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However he failed to win the election, which many believed was the result of vote rigging and illegal manipulation.
After the election Mousavi, his wife and Mehdi Karoubi, another opposition leader, urged their supporters to organize demonstrations in support of the uprisings that occurred throughout the Arab world in 2011. On 11 February 2011 all three were arrested and placed under house arrest where they have been cut off from contact with the outside world and their families for the past two years. To date, no charges have been brought against any of them.
Both the EU and U.S appeals comes one week ahead of international talks in Kazakhstan on Iran's nuclear programme. Meeting in Washington on 14 February the newly-appointed US secretary of state John Kerry told EU High Representative Cathy Ashton Ashton, "We hope that the talks in Almaty in a few days can show some further progress, perhaps open some additional opportunities." Ashton will chair the nuclear negotiations.
Catherine Ashton also stated on Thursday how she was keen on establishing a close relationship with the U.S new Secretary of State who succeeded Hillary Rodham Clinton earlier this month.
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