Mehdi Karroubi has been under house arrest since 2011

Mehdi Karroubi, an elderly Iranian opposition leader under house arrest since 2011, was hospitalised on Thursday after starting a hunger strike to support his demand for a public trial, his official website reported. Opposition leaders Karroubi, Mirhossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard have been confined to their homes for six-and-a-half years after calling for rallies in solidarity with pro-democracy uprisings.

They have never been put on trial or publicly charged. Both Mr. Karroubi, 80, and Mr. Mousavi, 75, suffer from ailments partly associated with their age. Mr. Karroubi has been hospitalised twice in recent weeks and underwent heart surgery.

Mr. Karroubi’s son, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, confirmed the Sahamnews website report on his Twitter account: “At 1 a.m. Thursday father was sent to hospital due to the hunger strike. Pray a lot”.

Sahamnews quoted the Shia cleric's wife, Fatemeh Karroubi, as saying that he would refuse “to eat or drink until his demands are met".

Mr. Karroubi and Mr. Mousavi ran in what became a disputed 2009 election that returned hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power and triggered mass protests ultimately crushed by the Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated Basij militia.