Iran announced on Monday that the country’s supreme leader has pardoned 22,000 people arrested in recent anti-government protests that have ravaged the Islamic republic. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the mass release.
The statement by Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseny Ezehi offered the first glimpse of the full scope of the government’s crackdown since protests in September over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the country’s morality police. ,
It also suggests that Iran’s theocracy now feels secure enough to acknowledge the scale of the unrest, which represents one of the most serious challenges to the establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tens of thousands were also detained in the purges that followed the revolution.
However, anger remains in the country as it struggles through the collapse of the country’s currency, the rial, economic woes and uncertainty over its relationship with the wider world following the collapse of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Is.
State-run IRNA news agency quoted Ezehi as announcing the figures on Monday. Iranian state media had earlier suggested that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could pardon those swept up in demonstrations ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when the holy dawn-to-dusk fasting. Ramzan will start later next week.
Ejehi said that a total of 82,656 prisoners and those facing charges have been pardoned. Of these, around 22,000 were arrested during the demonstrations. The pardoned had not committed theft or a violent crime, he said. His comments suggest that the true number of people detained at demonstrations is even higher.
In February, Iran acknowledged that “tens of thousands” had been detained over the protests. Monday’s approval from AJHE was far higher than what activists had previously quoted. However, there have been no mass releases of prisoners documented in recent days by Iranian media reports or activists.
More than 19,700 people have been arrested during the protests, according to human rights activists in Iran, a group tracking the crackdown. The group said at least 530 people have been killed as authorities violently suppressed the demonstrations. Iran has not offered a death toll for months.
The announcement also came ahead of the celebration of the Persian New Year, Nowruz, next week. On Tuesday, some people in Iran also celebrate the Festival of Fire, a nearly 4,000-year-old Persian tradition linked to Zoroastrianism. Hard-liners discourage such celebrations, viewing them as pagan holdovers.
Anti-government demonstrations were called for around both incidents. While the mass demonstrations have cooled down in recent weeks, nightly slogans against Iran’s democracy can still be heard in some areas of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
The announcement followed a major development last week, when Iran and Saudi Arabia said on Friday that with China’s mediation, they would work on re-establishing diplomatic ties and reopening embassies after a seven-year freeze in ties. let agreed.
The deal could help end years of war in Yemen, which sees a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who hold their capital, Sanaa. It has also helped boost the rial against the dollar in recent days.
