LOC23:06
20:06 GMT
BRUSSELS, March 24 (KUNA) -- EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton
condemned Thursday the continued detention of Iranian opposition leaders Mir
Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi as a political suppression.
"Following my last statement of 4 March, and contacts between the EU and
Iranian authorities in Tehran, there have been a series of requests to the
Ambassadors of Iran in EU capitals for explanations regarding the continued
restrictions on the freedom of movement and communications applied to
prominent political leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi," said
Ashton in a statement.
"The explanations offered emphasise only that they are being detained for
their own protection. This justification remains unconvincing, and does not
explain why they have not been allowed to communicate normally," questioned
Ashton.
"The immediate and unconditional release of these two men would dispel the
impression that the continued restrictions under which they are held
constitute a means of deliberate suppression of political opposition in Iran,"
she added. (end)
nk.bs
KUNA 242306 Mar 11NNNN