Iran announced today, Monday, that the country’s supreme leader has pardoned more than 22,000 people arrested in recent anti-government protests that have swept the Islamic Republic. However, there was no immediate independent confirmation of a mass release.

The statement by Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezehi gave the first glimpse of the full scale of the government’s crackdown following protests over the September death of 22-year-old Mahshi Amini, who was arrested by the vice police. a country.

It also shows that Iran’s theocratic regime now feels secure enough to recognize the extent of the unrest, which has been one of the biggest problems for the establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and beyond. Tens of thousands were also arrested in the purges that followed the revolution.

But anger still lingers in the country as it grapples with the collapse of its national currency, the rial, economic turmoil and insecurity over its ties to the rest of the world following the failure of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2015.

State news agency IRNA reported that Ezehi announced the figure today, Monday. Iranian state media has previously hinted that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may pardon so many people involved in protests ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when worshipers fast from dawn to dusk. Ramadan will start later next week.

Ezehi said that a total of 82,656 prisoners and those facing charges have been pardoned. According to him, about 22,628 of them were arrested during the protests. He added that those pardoned did not commit theft or violent crimes. His comments suggest that the actual number of those arrested during the protests is even higher.

In February, Iran acknowledged that “tens of thousands” had been arrested during the protests. Ezeha’s confession on Monday yielded an even larger number than previously reported by activists. However, in recent days, no mass releases of prisoners have been reported by Iranian media or activists.

More than 19,700 people were arrested during the protests, according to Human Rights Defenders in Iran, which monitors the crackdown. The group said at least 530 people were killed in the government’s brutal crackdown on protests. Iran did not release any death toll figures for several months.

“From day one, there has been no transparent reporting on who has been arrested and imprisoned — before or after the massive protests of recent months — so there is no way to establish how many are now released,” said Jasmine Ramsey, deputy director of the US-based Center for human rights in Iran.

“We also know that more than five months after the death of Mahshi Amini, no Iranian official has been held accountable for the massacres of protesters or the arbitrary imprisonment of tens of thousands of people.”

The announcement of the judiciary also came ahead of next week’s celebration of Nowruz, the Persian new year. On Tuesday, some in Iran are also celebrating a nearly 4,000-year-old Persian tradition known as the Fire Festival associated with the Zoroastrian religion. Hardliners disapprove of such celebrations, considering them to be pagan relics.

There were calls for anti-government protests around the two events. Although mass protests have froze in recent weeks, anti-Iranian theocracy slogans can still be heard overnight in parts of Tehran.

The announcement follows a major development last week when Iran and Saudi Arabia said on Friday they had agreed, through China’s mediation, to restore diplomatic ties and reopen their embassies after seven years of cold weather. The deal could help end years of war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels holding the capital Sana’a. This has also contributed to the strengthening of the rial in recent days against the dollar.

Meanwhile, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko today, on Monday, visited Tehran and met with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi. Iran supplies unmanned bombers, which Russia is now using in the war in Ukraine. Lukashenko remains a close ally of Russia, which has used Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine.

Lukashenko said his country and Iran would sign an unspecified set of deals worth $100 million.

Iran “resists external pressure, attempts to impose the will of third parties,” Lukashenka told his masters. “Nevertheless, you are developing modern technologies and nuclear energy. And, as we decided today with the President of Iran, we can be very useful to each other if we really join our efforts.”

Source: Associated Press.