Iran raises pressure on opposition leader with raids of offices

The raids appeared aimed at crushing a campaign spearheaded by Karroubi to bring to light alleged torture and rapes of detainees - allegations that have deeply embarrassed Iran’s government and clerical leadership.

The raids also come amid increasing calls by hardline clerics and commanders in the Revolutionary Guard for the arrest of Karroubi and fellow opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and former president Mohamad Khatami. Arresting any of the three would be a major escalation in a crackdown the opposition says aims to wipe out the movement.

Security agents confiscated “documents and electronic devices containing information about the party’s investigation into abuses of detained protesters in prisons,’’ party spokesman Esmaeil Gerami Moghaddam said.

Security forces also raided Karroubi’s personal office, located in another part of Tehran, and arrested Mohammad Davari, an editor of the National Confidence Party website, Moghaddam said. Karroubi was in the office at the time of the raid, he said.

The security agents also confiscated CDs and documents concerning the abuse allegations and sealed the office, he said.

In a third raid, security forces arrested Morteza Alviri, a top Karroubi aide and a former vice president, at his home. “I’m being taken away by security agents right now,’’ Alviri said by telephone before the call was cut off.

Alviri was a member of a committee set up by Karroubi and Mousavi to probe into the abuse allegations.

On Sunday evening, security agents raided a joint Karroubi-Mousavi office that was receiving reports of abuse from released protesters, Moghaddam said.

Karroubi and Mousavi both ran against incumbent hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 elections. The opposition says that Ahmadinejad’s victory was fraudulent and that Mousavi was the rightful winner.

Hundreds were arrested in the heavy crackdown crushing mass protests in support of Mousavi that erupted after the vote in the country’s worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The opposition says at least 72 protesters were killed, while the government has confirmed 30.

Iran’s police chief, Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, warned the opposition against using an upcoming annual pro-Palestinian nationwide rally as an occasion to hold antigovernment protests. The rally - known as Quds Day, referring to the Arabic word for Jerusalem - takes place on Sept. 18. It is usually an occasion for government supporters to denounce Israel and show support for the Palestinians.

“The main objective of the Quds Day should not be deviated from,’’ Moghadam said, according to state news agency IRNA.