LONDON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Iran is called on to release opposition leaders who've been held without charge for nearly a year, the British foreign secretary said.
Opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi were placed under house arrest one year ago this week. Iranian lawmakers in February 2011 called for their execution for what British Foreign Minister William Hague described as "spurious political offenses."
Karroubi and Mousavi were arrested shortly after issuing requests to Tehran to have public demonstrations in early 2011. Mousavi was the top challenger to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election in 2009 sparked violent protests in Iran.
Hague said Tehran has ignored urgent calls from the international community for the opposition leaders' immediate release. He said Iran's claim that they're being isolated for their own safety is "clearly a cynical attempt to silence their voices and those of their supporters."
Radio Zameneh, a Dutch broadcaster reporting on the Iranian opposition movement, said it received reports of a heavy security presence in Tehran in response to a demonstration to mark the anniversary of the opposition leader's detention.
Iran has parliamentary elections next month. Human rights groups have accused Tehran of shutting reformist newspapers in an effort to silence government critics ahead of the election.
"The Tehran governor has announced that any attempt to start another demonstration today will be confronted by the authorities," the Dutch broadcaster reports.
