How Can a “Bunch of Rogues” Act in this Manner?

In an exclusive interview with Rooz, Fatemeh Karoubi announced that security agents prevented friends, relatives and supporters from entering Mehdi Karoubi’s residence on Eid Fetr this week.

Mrs Karoubi also responded to the latest statement from the Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which claimed that rogue agents were responsible for the attack on Mr. Karoubi’s residence: “It is not impossible to believe that a bunch of rogues can surround a residential property, do whatever that they want, and that no one could stop them.”

Last week, and coinciding with the holy nights of Qadr, former Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karoubi’s residence was attacked several times by plainclothes agents and members of the IRGC affiliated official vigilantes, the Basij.

Several days later, and on Eid Fetr, Mr. Karoubi’s house was surrounded once again, but Mrs. Karoubi points out that this time the security police were in charge: “Since about 7 o’clock in the morning these forces were stationed outside the house. People who wanted to visit us called and said that they had to return home because they were stopped from coming in at the door. There were several groups of the security police, some in cars and others on foot, who prevented guests from visiting us, although they were polite.”

The former lawmaker and editor-in-chief of the journal Iran-Dokht, Mrs. Karoubi adds, “I thank the IRGC for condemning the 5-day siege of our house. The IRGC belongs to the nation and its reputation belongs to everyone. A considerable portion of the IRGC’s body is with the people, but it is impossible to believe that a bunch of rogues surrounded a residential property, did whatever that they wished, and no one was able to stop them.”

Mrs. Karoubi insists that the attackers were organized and mobilized by a higher authority. She says, “We were inside our residence. It was first God and second our security team that prevented these people from entering the building, because we were absolutely certain that they have come to turn our children and us into martyrs. I am so saddened by the nights that we experienced; I cried from seeing that the regime has ended up here. They used the most vulgar and base insults against me, a 60-year-old woman, and Mr. Karoubi, who is 73. This is not the way to govern, this is not Islam, I don’t even know what to call it. Those were horrible nights, not because we were worried that they are coming to kill us…. I was just crying to see where the regime has ended up.”

I ask Mrs. Karoubi whether the regime is testing the public reaction in order to eventually put Mr. Karoubi under house arrest. She responds, “The Iranian people are wise and intelligent. You can tell them to stop eating but you can’t tell them to stop thinking. The Iranian people are aware of what is going on and Mr. Karoubi is ready to pay any price.”