Iran’s Khamenei To Pardon 10,000 Prisoners

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – State TV in Iran is reporting that the country’s top leader will pardon 10,000 more prisoners in an apparent effort to combat the coronavirus. As part of steps taken to try to curb the spread of the new virus that has killed more than 1,100 people in Iran, the country has already released 85,000 prisoners on temporary leave. State TV quoted a judiciary spokesman saying that the prisoners – among them an unknown number of inmates whose cases are political and related to activism or speech – would be granted amnesty under a decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the occasion of the Iranian new year, called Nowruz.