The announcement was made via a press release, and the measure scheduled for the 44th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution, on February 11.

Iran's Supreme Leader on Sunday (February 5th) ordered amnesty or reduced prison sentences for "tens of thousands" of people detained in connection with anti-government protests rocking the country.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's decree, part of the pardon the Supreme Leader grants each year ahead of the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, comes as authorities have not yet clarified the number of people detained during the demonstrations.

Ali Khamenei "has agreed to offer amnesty and reduce the sentences of tens of thousands of people accused and convicted in the recent incidents", the state-run Irna news agency said in Farsi.

A later Irna dispatch, carried by its English-language service, said the pardons and commuted sentences concerned "tens of thousands of convicts, including those arrested during the recent riots in Iran".

Authorities did not immediately acknowledge the discrepancy between the reports, and the statement did not specify the number of people affected by the measure.

"Tens of thousands" of detainees are likely to benefit, according to media reports.

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Release in exchange for a "declaration of remorse"

State media also published a list of reservations about the order that would disqualify from these amnesties those with foreign ties or accused of spying - allegations that have drawn widespread criticism international.

Excluded from the amnesty are "accused of espionage, murder and intentional injury, destruction and arson against government, military and public installations", the statement said.

On its Mizan Online site, the Iranian judicial authority adds that individuals arrested in connection with the protest movement will only be released if they sign a "declaration of remorse and a written commitment not to repeat an intentional crime similar".

Overcrowded prisons, "hypocritical grace"

Dispatches on the decree gave no explanation for the decision by Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state in Iran.

However, prisons and detention centers were already overcrowded in the country, after years of protests, particularly over economic issues.

Activists immediately rejected Khamenei's decree.

"Khamenei's hypocritical pardon changes nothing," wrote Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, of the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.

“Not only should all protesters be unconditionally released, but it is also a public right that those who ordered the bloody crackdown and their agents be held accountable.”

Authorities also did not name the people who were pardoned or given shorter sentences.

Instead, state television continued to speak of the protests as a 'foreign-backed riot', not as a homegrown anger sparked by the September death of Mahsa Amini.

Anger has also spread over the collapse of the Iranian rial against the US dollar, as well as Tehran's arming of Russia with bomb-carrying drones in its war against Ukraine. 

More than 19,600 people have been arrested during the protests, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran.

At least 527 people have been killed in the violent crackdown on protests by authorities, according to this group that tracks the crackdown.

Iran has not released a report for months.

At least four people have been executed in connection with protests following trials criticized by the international community.

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Journalist arrested

On Sunday, the head of the society service of the daily Ham Mihan, Elnaz Mohammadi, "was arrested in Tehran after her summons", indicated the reformist newspaper Shargh on its site, without further details.

She is the sister of journalist Elaheh Mohammadi, detained since September in Evin prison in Tehran.

The Judicial Authority indicted her in November on counts of "propaganda against the system" and "conspiracy against national security" for covering the Mahsa Amini affair.

The court also sentenced journalist Hossein Yazdi, imprisoned since December 5 in Isfahan (center), to one year in prison, Shargh said.

He was the director of the political news site Mobin 24, based in this city.

The Tehran Journalists Association said in early January that more than 30 Iranian journalists remained in jail in connection with the protests.

At the end of October, more than 300 Iranian journalists and photojournalists had criticized the authorities in an open letter for having "arrested (their) colleagues and for having deprived them of their rights", in particular "access to their lawyers".

With AFP and AP

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