COVID-19: Iran frees 85K more inmates, for now
Iran's judiciary has made the highly unusual move to free tens of thousands more inmates from its prisons in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Tehran says it's temporary, but didn't give details on when the prisoners were expected to return to incarceration.
The government also says it is limiting release to people serving less than five years behind bars. Those with heavier sentences, or those linked to anti-government protests, will remain in jail.
This is the second wave of releases from its prisons. Earlier this month it released 189,000.
Iran's coronavirus death toll has reached nearly 1,000 - with more than 16,000 infections across the country - making it one of the worst national outbreaks outside of China where the virus originated.
The U.N. said earlier this month that it had asked Tehran to free all political prisoners temporarily from its overcrowded and disease-ridden jails to help stem the spread of coronavirus.
Iran's clerical rulers have rejected locking down cities despite the rising death toll and the rate of new cases, but they have urged people to avoid traveling ahead of Iranian new year on Friday (March 20) amid concerns over further spread of the virus.
The country's health ministry says mass Friday prayers have been canceled across Iran, another highly unusual move.
