The family was given no advance notice. Relatives had gathered at the home of one of the cleric’s sons to mark the birthday. While they were gathered, the doorbell rang. On answering, the son found his father surrounded by six security guards.
The guards stayed in the house with the family for the one hour Karrubi was allowed to stay there.
Karrubi has been under house arrest for eight months since February 14. Originally, he and his wife were kept together, but several weeks ago Karrubi was removed to an unknown location and his wife was left in the family home. She is apparently no longer under house arrest, as she was allowed to go to her son’s home Friday.
It wasn’t known why the authorities had a sudden pang of humanity and allowed Karrubi to visit his family. Some of his children had been permitted to see their father and mother in their home over the summer. And his son said the guards promised that Karrubi will soon be allowed to see some family members on a weekly schedule.
One of the sons, Moham-mad-Hossain Karrubi, described Friday’s visit on his Facebook page.
“Last night, my mother and my brothers had gathered at my house to celebrate father’s birthday and the fact that my daughter had been accepted to university. Just as we were about to serve dinner, the doorbell rang and an agent confirmed that they had brought father to the house.…
“Though he had lost some weight, he was nevertheless in great spirits. By his own account, the weight loss is a result of the more than two hours he walks in the apartment where he is currently being held. When we inquired about his health, he responded that he had been taken to a medical center a few days ago where he had undergone a complete medical checkup.
“At the end of this one-hour visit, the security agents allowed the family to take a group photo. It is worth mentioning that the security agents recently assigned to my father have told my father his situation will improve and that they plan to transfer him to a house in Shemiran [north Tehran] within the next 10 days.
“They have also promised that the family members will be allowed to take turns and visit with him once a week. When inquiring whether father would be allowed access to books and newspapers, the security agents said the authorities would have to approve that first.”