Mehdi Karroubi
Mehdi Karroubi | |
---|---|
مهدی کروبی | |
Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr | |
Majority | 965,484 (61.4%; 3rd term), 1,443,270 (62.5%; 2nd term) |
In office 28 May 1980 – 28 May 1984 | |
Succeeded by | Mohammad-Reza Hashemi |
Constituency | Aligudarz County |
Majority | 49,097 (92.9%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Lorestan Province, Imperial State of Iran | 26 September 1937
Political party |
|
Spouse | Fatemeh Karroubi (m. 1962)[1] |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | University of Tehran |
Website | Official website |
Mehdi Karroubi (
He was the speaker of the
He has been described as a "moderate" with a "mostly rural" base of support.[3] Karroubi considers himself a pragmatic reformist and now is one of the leaders of the Iranian Green Movement.[4]
He is a founding member and former secretary-general of the
Early life, education, and career
Mehdi Karroubi is born on 26 September 1937 into a
Karroubi studied theology and Islamic studies at seminaries in
Karroubi was imprisoned several times by the government of the
In 1978, Karroubi retired from law in order to commit to politics. In 1979, he joined the Iranian Revolution. Karroubi was the head of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee and the Martyr's Foundation shortly after Iranian revolution.[6]
In 1988, Karroubi re-entered business after 10 years of emphasis on politics. With eighteen years of experience as a solicitor beforehand, Karroubi began trading and investing himself.
Political positions
Domestic policies
During his first term as speaker of Parliament, Karroubi was among the maktabi or "radical" faction of the majlis who contested the policies of President
His wife, Fatemeh, served as his social affairs advisors when he served as the chairman of the Majlis of Iran from 2000 until 2004.[1]
Mehdi Karroubi, an ethnic
Karroubi is a critic of the Guardian Council and on numerous occasions wrote letters to the council expressing his concerns. He criticized the nature of the Guardian Council's supervision over the elections.[citation needed]
Foreign policies
Karroubi and the National Trust Party support the idea of dialogue with the United States aiming at resolving long standing conflicts. Early after the election of Barack Obama as US president, Karroubi stated that the changes from the United States have been positive.[citation needed]
Karroubi has been a critic of President Ahmadinejad's foreign policy and his infamous remarks about the Holocaust. Karroubi said: "The Holocaust is an event which did take place."[8] He believes that the president's remarks cost Iran a great deal.[9]
Presidential campaigns
2005 presidential campaign
Karroubi was among the
After the announcement of the election results, Karroubi alleged that a network of
2009 presidential election
Immediately after the 2005 presidential election Karroubi founded Etemad-e Melli Party, and along with it Etemad-e Melli newspaper. In the 2009 election, he ran as the head of his party. However, many non-party figures also endorsed him.
Karroubi was described as "the best-organized" among the main candidates. He has his own party, his own newspaper and has always followed a clear political stance.[8]
He claimed to be the first candidate to announce his candidacy for the presidency. During the last months before the election, he refused a call for him to withdraw in the support of Mohammad Khatami or later Mir-Hossein Mousavi.[citation needed] Later, both Mousavi and Karroubi stated that a union among reformists would only help Ahamadinejad's reelection, claiming that reformists needed a massive turn out in order to win and that more candidates would advance their interests.[citation needed]
Karroubi publicized his policies by publishing four electoral declarations. According to a paper handed to his supporters during the campaign his main policies are:
- Returning to the planned-based system of governing and using the elite and experts in decision making process
- Organizing financial policies and increasing the effect of national budget
- Protecting human rights and people's privacy
- Improving women's social status
- Nationalizing oil profits
- Supporting NGOs
- Supporting the right of religious or tribal minorities
- Supporting the domination of law and opposing and criticizing illegal behavior
- Supporting the press and free access to the information and internet
In a 2009 interview with the AFP, Karroubi also promised to expand women's rights if elected president of Iran.[1] Among the reforms which he planned to introduce were elimination of Iran's morality police street patrols, which force an Islamic dress code on Iranian women.[1] He questioned mandatory Islamic dress code and proposed that Hijab needs to be optional.[12]
His foremost economic program is for broad public ownership of the national oil and gas companies. According to this plan, adopted from the pro-market economist
His campaign slogan was "Change for Iran", a word visible on his banners and other advertisements.
Former Tehran mayor Gholamhossein Karbaschi was among the first to endorse him, and was Karroubi's campaign manager. Karroubi has promised to appoint him vice president if elected.[13]
Karroubi also gained endorsements from journalist Abbas Abdi, now his political advisor, and Jamileh Kadivar, former member of the parliament and his advisor on women's issues. Other notable supporters include: Ata'ollah Mohajerani, historian, politician, journalist, and author and former culture minister during Khatami's presidency; Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, President Khatami's chief of staff, then his vice president for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and finally his advisor; Mohammad-Ali Najafi, Iranian politician and university professor and former minister of education; Emadeddin Baghi, the founder and head of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights and the Society of Right to Life Guardians, and winner of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders; Abdolkarim Soroush, philosopher and professor.[13]
Mehdi Karroubi widely campaigned with his wife, Fatemeh Karroubi, during the campaign, which had previously been an unusual for a politician and his wife in Iran.[1] Fatemeh Karroubi additionally served as the head of her husband's campaign in Tehran province and made separate speeches in support of her husband's candidacy.[1] Karroubi's son, Taghi Karroubi, worked as one of his campaign managers.[1]
Post-election activity
On 9 August 2009, in a letter to the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, Karroubi demanded investigation of Iranian prisons for possible tortures and in particular sexual harassment of men and women.
Ali Larijani and Sadeq Larijani both officially rejected his claims and Ali Khamenei's representatives and vice chairman of National Security Commission of the parliament demanded Karroubi's arrest.[16][citation needed]
Attacks
On 8 January 2010, Karroubi's son, Hussein Karroubi reported on Karroubi's website, Saham News, that shots had been fired at his armored car by pro-government demonstrators in
On 2 September 2010, 20 members of the Basij militia broke into Karroubi's apartment building. They shot at the building, set small fires in the courtyard, the lobby, vandalized parts of the building, cut water pipes to the apartment and tried to cut power on the street. This was the fourth consecutive night that Karroubi's apartment has come under attack. Karroubi's son, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, said he heard several of the men say they were there to kill his father. Several of Karroubi's security team were injured when pleading with the gathering to stay outside the building to no avail. The head of a security team protecting Karroubi was in a coma after being beaten, as he tried to talk with a group of attackers.[18]
House arrest
In the wake of the
Hunger strike
On 16 August 2017, Karroubi started a hunger strike in protest to his house arrest situation, calling for an open trial and demanding security agents to leave his house.[2] The 79-year-old politician who underwent a heart surgery days earlier was taken to hospital after less than 24 hours and resumed eating after the government agreed to remove intelligence agents from his home. His demand for trial has not been granted.[21]
Personal life
Karroubi has been married to
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Eqbali, Aresu (29 May 2009). "Iranian women need more rights: candidate's wife". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
- ^ a b Bozorgmehr Sharafedin (16 August 2017), Jeremy Gaunt (ed.), "Iran's detained opposition leader Karroubi starts hunger strike", Reuters, retrieved 16 August 2017
- ^ New Yorker, 13 April 2009
- ^ "Mousavi and Karoubi set stage for new showdown". Gulf Times. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ "بیوگرافی". Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
- ^ iranfocus.com, 14 June 2005
- ^ Brumberg, p. 162
- ^ a b "Mehdi Karroubi: Underdog but not to be underestimated (Feature)". Monsters and Critics. 14 May 2009. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ "Iranian Reformist Mehdi Karoubi to Run in 2009 Presidential Race". Payvand. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ Election Statement BBC Persian.
- ^ "Hashemi Rafsanjani's Statement" (in Persian). BBC.
- ^ "آسیب شناسی انتخابات دهم ریاست جمهوری". Tabnak. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ a b c "The Curious Case of Mehdi Karroubi: Iran's Ralph Nader?", Tehran Bureau, PBS, 3 June 2009, retrieved 16 August 2017
- ^ Iran and human rights: The crackdown Economist
- ^ "Iran reformer says he wants to present rape evidence". Reuters. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
- ^ dead link
- ^ a b Shots Fired at Iran Opposition Leader’s Car, Son Says The New York Times, Nazila Fathi, 8 January 2010
- ^ Iranian opposition leader comes under attack, website says CNN, 2 September 2010
- ^ a b Iran unrest: MPs call for death of Mousavi and Karroubi, BBC, 15 February 2011
- ^ Iran: Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi 'arrested', BBC News
- ^ "Iran reformist leader Mehdi Karroubi ends hunger strike", The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, 18 August 2017, retrieved 20 August 2017
- Sources
- "Mehdi Karroubi: Iran's Most Prominent Reformist Speaks". Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- Jon Lee Anderson (13 April 2009). "Can Iran Change? High stakes in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection campaign". The New Yorker.
- "Iran elections candidates: Mehdi Karroubi". Iran Focus. 14 June 2005. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- Brumberg, Daniel (2001). Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran. University of Chicago Press. p. 162.
- "Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran" (PDF). New Haven, CT: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. February 2010: 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
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