Son of Medhi Karroubi says family has been banned from visiting his father's house amid plans for demonstration

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Iran has put opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi under house arrest after he called for renewed street protests against the government, his son told the Guardian.

The move came after thousands of Iranians sympathetic to the opposition green movement joined social networking websites to promote demonstrations on Monday in solidarity with protesters in Egypt and Tunisia.

Hossein Karroubi said that he and his family had been banned from visiting Karroubi's house in Tehran, which has been surrounded by dozens of security officers.

"When I went to visit my father this morning, officers prevented me from entering the house and said that apart from my mother, no one is allowed in," he said.

He added: "It is the first time that the government has restricted my father this far so that even us, as close family members are also banned from visiting him, this is obviously a move aimed at intimidating the leaders of the opposition for Monday's protest."

Intelligence service officers also arrested Taghi Rahmani, an adviser to Mehdi Karroubi, after raiding his house.

At the same time, opposition websites reported a series of arrests of political activists and journalists as the regime struggles to prevent the news of the planned protest from spreading.

The official website of Mir Hossein Mousavi, another opposition leader, reported that police had arrested Mohammad Hossein Sharifzadeghan, a professor of Shahid Beheshti University and a member of Mousavi's campaign during the 2009 presidential election.

Other arrests include Mostafa Mirahmadizadeh, a close ally of the deceased grand ayatollah Montazeri in the holy city of Qom, and Meysam Mohammadi and Omid Mohaddes, two journalists.

Access to the blogging site Wordpresswas blocked and internet download speeds appeared to have been reduced.

The Revolutionary Guards, the regime's most powerful military force, have warned against any protest. Commander Hossein Hamedani told Iran's IRNA state news agency that the they consider the opposition leaders as "anti-revolutionary and spies and will strongly confront them".

"The seditionists [opposition leaders] are nothing but a dead corpse and we will strongly confront any of their movements," he said.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejehi, Iran's chief prosecutor, said that if "anyone really wants to support the people of Tunisia and Egypt, they should join the regime and the people and take part in the rally on 11 February."

A pro-regime demonstration to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic revolution will be held on Friday.

Analysts believe the fact that the opposition chose Monday to rally instead of Friday on the occasion of the anniversary of the revolution, is a clear sign that it believes the regime has been deflected from its principals.

"Setting a different date means that these individuals are separating themselves from the people and creating divisions," said Mohseni-Ejehi.

Mousavi and Karroubi issued a joint statement on Tuesday in an unprecedented criticism of the regime in which they said that the Islamic republic has been most hurt by "the anti-religion and oppressive behaviour of the regime itself."

At least 27,000 internet users have so far joined a Facebook page created for Monday's protest.