Insight - Rouhani faces pressure for release of Iran's political prisoners

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani arrives to attend the closing statement for the Asian-African Conference in Jakarta April 23, 2015. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Having struck a historic nuclear deal to end decades of enmity between Iran and the West, President Hassan Rouhani faces a fresh challenge at home, to win the release of leading political prisoners whose case has polarized the Islamic Republic.

Former presidential candidates Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, along with Moussavi’s wife Zahra Rahnavard, have been under house arrest since 2011.