Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday approved a judiciary proposal to pardon a number of female and underage prisoners, the official IRNA news agency said.
It did not say how many people would be freed under the arrangement, which was first presented by the nation's top justice, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi. Khamenei grants amnesties several times a year.
A government-run newspaper said earlier this month that Iran is now jailing one person on average every 59 seconds as a result of a sharp increase in criminal activity in the Islamic republic.
The report said some 650 Iranian children currently live in prison with their mothers – TEHRAN (AFP)
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