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© Agence France-Presse/FileMehdi Karroubi leads the National Trust Party
Iran's opposition leaders Mehdi Karrubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who had been under forced seclusion at home, were transferred to a Tehran prison, as supporters prepared to hold a rally tomorrow, the opposition Kaleme website said.

Mousavi and Karrubi, along with their wives, were "arrested and taken to Heshmatiyeh prison in Tehran," Kaleme said on its website, which cited neighbors for some of the details.

A crackdown on Karrubi and Mousavi, who both lost in the 2009 election against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is aimed at curbing dissent, which has revived as turmoil spreads in the Middle East and North Africa. Unrest that ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak from Egypt, is now roiling Libya, where more than 1,000 people have died and almost 100,000 have fled, according to the United Nations.

Mousavi and Karrubi had earlier called for a Feb. 14 rally in solidarity with regional protesters and, according to opposition websites, were placed in seclusion along with their wives in mid-February.

The Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope, a group that backs Mousavi and Karrubi, asked followers to march toward Tehran's Azadi square from 5 p.m. on March 1, according to statements posted on the kaleme.com and sahamnews.org websites.
Green Movement

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today criticized Iran for pursuing "policies of violence abroad and tyranny at home."

"Why do people have the right to live free from fear in Tripoli but not in Tehran?" Clinton said. "The denial of human dignity in Iran is an outrage that deserves the condemnation of all who speak out for freedom and justice."

Iran's protesters, known as the Green Movement, demonstrated last year against alleged vote rigging that resulted in Ahmadinejad's victory. This year's protests, which began on Feb. 14, have since widened to include criticism of the political system and its policies.

Mousavi and Karrubi have been dubbed by the authorities as "leaders of the sedition," and accused of being backed by foreign powers. Last year, Iranian prosecutor Abbas Jafari- Dolatabadi said the two will be put on trial "when it will be in the interest of the ruling establishment and once public opinion is ready."