Iranian authorities released the leader of the country’s reformist coalition on bail Friday, days after she was arrested following anti-government protests, local media reported.
Azar Mansouri, head of the Reformist Front, “was released from prison a few minutes ago after posting bail”, her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told the ISNA news agency.
Mansouri, 60, an adviser to reformist former president Mohammad Khatami, was arrested on Sunday alongside two other senior reformist figures, Javad Emam and Ebrahim Asgharzadeh.
Late Thursday, Kermani told ISNA that Emam and Asgharzadeh were also released after posting bail.
Asgharzadeh is a former member of parliament and Emam is the spokesman of the Reformist Front, the main coalition of the reformist camp.
They were accused of “undermining national unity” and “coordinating with enemy propaganda”, the Fars news agency reported at the time of their arrests.
Reformists traditionally call for more social freedoms and the establishment of a civil society and backed current president Masoud Pezeshkian during his 2024 campaign.
Later on Friday, ultraconservative Fars news agency said Pezeshkian “personally followed up” on the release of the reformist figures, citing an unidentified government source.
Fars said “the release of radical reformist figures who had recently been arrested was carried out following efforts by Masoud Pezeshkian.”
The arrests come weeks after protests erupted across the country, in which thousands of people died and many more were arrested.
In 2009, Emam was one of the campaign managers for Mir Hossein Mousavi, a leading figure in the Iranian opposition and former prime minister, who has been under house arrest since 2011.
Add Comment