Iranian state media announced on Sunday that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, had pardoned “tens of thousands” of prisoners on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The pardons initially include participants in acts against the clerical regime that have mobilized the country since last September. The human rights group Hrana estimates that around 20,000 people have been detained in connection with the protests.
Forgiveness came, however, with a number of conditions. It does not apply, for example, to those accused of “corruption on Earth” —a crime whose punishment includes the death penalty—, nor to those suspected of “spying for foreign agencies, having direct contact with foreign agents, intentionally injuring or murdering individuals, committing acts of destruction or setting fire to State property”.
“Naturally, those who do not express regret for their actions and undertake in writing not to repeat them will not be forgiven,” added Sadeq Rahimi, second in command of the judiciary.
The biggest wave of protests in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution was triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in September in custody of the moral police, responsible for enforcing the regime’s strict religious codes of conduct.
Amini was arrested for allegedly incorrectly wearing the hijab, the Islamic headscarf. The official version is that she died as a result of previous health problems, but family members and activists say that she was attacked and killed by agents while she was arrested.
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