Iran 'pardons' 22,000 people who took part in protests

Iranian judicial authorities have pardoned 22,000 people who took part in anti-government protests, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency.

State media reported early last month that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had pardoned "tens of thousands" of prisoners including some arrested in the protests in a deadly crackdown on dissent.

"So far 82,000 people have been pardoned, including 22,000 people who participated in (the) protests," Ejei said.

He did not specify over what period the pardons were granted or if or when the people had been charged.

Iran has been swept by protests since the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the country's morality police last September.

Iranians from all walks of life have taken part, marking one of the boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. 

The protests that have swept across Iran were sparked by Mahsa Amini's killing for flouting the hijab policy, which requires women to entirely cover their hair and bodies.

Since then, thousands have followed suit, supported by fellow protesters both men and women. 

The long wave of unrest has posed one of the strongest challenges to the Iranian regime since the 1979 revolution. Openly defying the hijab rules, women have waved and burned their scarves or cut their hair.