Iran Said to Arrest Prominent Detainees’ Wives - NYTimes.com

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By NAZILA FATHI

Iranian authorities arrested the wives and family members of a number of high-profile political detainees at a religious ceremony in Tehran, several reformist Web sites reported Friday.

The raid happened Thursday after the family members of one detainee, Shahab Tabatabee, announced on the Web site Norooz News that they were holding a prayer ceremony for his release. Mr. Tabatabee, a member of the reformist party Islamic Iran Participation Front, was sentenced to five years in prison last week.

The police raided the ceremony at a private home a few minutes after it began, according to a relative of some of the people who were arrested.

Officers arrested nearly all the guests except for several young women who were attending with infants and toddlers.

There were conflicting reports on the Web sites as to the number arrested. The relative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said 60 people had been arrested, which would make it the largest mass arrest in recent months.

Two senior clerics, Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri and Grand Ayatollah Yousef Sanei, denounced the raid, opposition Web sites reported. At least three opposition Web sites reported the arrests, each citing witnesses.

The wife of Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, a prominent prisoner who was the government spokesman under former President Mohammad Khatami, and the wives of several former members of Parliament were among the detainees.

About 10 people were released Friday. About a dozen others were transferred to the notorious Evin prison, the relative said.

He said the raid had been carried out under a warrant issued by the prosecutor general.

The arrests appeared to be a warning to the families of the detainees, who have been vocal in their opposition to the arrests.

Many reformist politicians were arrested immediately after the disputed June 12 elections, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed a landslide victory.

His re-election set off some of the largest protests since the 1979 revolution, and his opponents have accused him of rigging the results.

More than 100 people, including reform activists and journalists, are still in jail, and their relatives have said most were being held in solitary confinement with limited access to their families or lawyer.

The government has been unable to extinguish the protests despite mass arrests and a violent crackdown. The opposition has hijacked government-backed rallies and religious ceremonies in the past months as an opportunity to stage protests.

Authorities hinted this month that they might try to arrest the opposition leaders Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi in an effort to stop the protests.

Some 100 hard-line members of Parliament signed a petition last week against Mr. Moussavi, laying the groundwork for his arrest. One of the signers, Mohammad Taqi Rahbar, told state-run television that the complaint was aimed at stopping Mr. Moussavi from planning a protest scheduled for Nov. 3.

The Special Court of Clergy also said last week that it was looking into charges against Mr. Karroubi.

On Friday, Mr. Karroubi was attacked by baton-wielding vigilantes when he visited a media exhibition in Tehran, the student Web site Advarnews reported.

Mr. Karroubi’s white turban was knocked off, and the official Fars news agency carried a photo showing a shoe being tossed at him.