On Tuesday, Iran’s judiciary declared that 157 prisoners convicted of security violations have been pardoned as part of an amnesty ordered by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reported AFP.

In the recent amnesty proclaimed last week to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, a total of 3,780 prisoners were pardoned or witnessed their sentences being lowered, said Gholamhossein Esmaili, judiciary spokesman.

Those pardoned comprised “157 convicted of propaganda against the state, illegal gathering, collusion against national security, or participation in the riots”, Esmaili added.

The last was an indication to repeated street protests that rocked Iran between 2017 and 2019 as the economy braced for, then reeled from, sweeping sanctions imposed by the outgoing US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Demonstrations in November last year instigated by increase in the price of fuel killed 304 people, all but four of them shot dead by the security forces, said Amnesty International, London-based human rights group.

While speaking in June, a senior Iranian lawmaker put the death toll at 230 but said most were slain by armed “rioters”.

Iran has released thousands of prisoners as part of measures to reduce the novel coronavirus infections.

Those convicted of security offences have generally been excluded, irrespective of the appeals from the United Nations and human rights groups

In aggregate, Iran has pardoned or granted early release to 20,000 prisoners over the past 18 months, Esmaili said.