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Iran grants clemency to over 2,800 prisoners to mark Eid

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announces pardons to mark two Muslim religious holidays, Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Ghadir
Eid Iran market AFP
Iranians buy sacrificial animals on the first day of Eid al-Adha at a livestock market in Tehran on 21 July 2021 (AFP)

Iran's Supreme Leader has granted clemency to more than 2,800 jailed convicts to mark two Muslim religious holidays, his website said on Saturday.

Ali Khamenei's statement did not elaborate on the identity of the 2,825 prisoners who were either pardoned or had their sentences commuted.

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Clemency was granted to mark Eid al-Adha, which is celebrated in Iran on 21 July, and Eid al-Ghadir, commemorated on Thursday.

Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is one of the biggest celebrations in the Muslim calendar, and Eid al-Ghadir is a significant Shia religious holiday.

In June, Khamenei made the same decision for more than 5,000 prisoners to make the birth of Imam Reza, one of Shia Islam's most revered figures.

Iran's supreme leader grants clemency to prisoners several times each year on occasions of religious or national holidays after it is proposed by the head of the judiciary authority.

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