Iran Releases Number of Reformist Leaders

Iranian authorities on Thursday released a number of reformist leaders arrested in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. Among freed detainees are Jahanbakhsh Khanjani of Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s Kargozaran party, Laila Tavasoli and Mohammad Naimpour of Freedom Movement and Reza Khandan, a former high-ranking IRGC officer.

Ebrahim Yazdi, one of the founders of the Islamic Republic and former foreign minister under Ayatollah Khomeini, was also released on a 10-day furlough and was immediately transferred to a Tehran hospital.

There are still tens of reformist leaders, journalists and human rights activists behind bars. But in the past few days, many moderates in the conservative camp have joined reformist leaders calling for the release of all political prisoners.

In a related story, new videos of the attacks by uniformed security officers as well as plainclothes Bajij members on University of Tehran’s dormitories have been released. The images show beatings of university students by government agents during the unrests that followed last June’s election.

Iranian laws prohibit the entry of police and security forces into university campus. Few days after the attack, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly denied reports of any involvement by the security forces in the attacks. He called the attackers “unknown elements.” IRGC commander, Maj. Gen. Jafari, had also said that no Basij members were involved in the attacks.