Iran will deploy hundreds of thousands of health workers as they temporarily release 54,000 people from jails.
The officials announced a series of measures to contain the world’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside China.
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters that the prisoners were allowed out of prison after testing negative for coronavirus and posting bail.
“Security prisoners” or inmates sentenced to more than five years will not be let out.
At a tree-planting ceremony to mark World Wildlife Day on Tuesday, the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the public to observe the health ministry’s hygiene guidelines and ordered all government bodies to provide any necessary help to the health ministry.
He also insisted that Iranian authorities were not hiding information about the scale of the problem, saying: “Our officials have reported with sincerity and transparency since day one. However, some countries where the outbreak has been more serious have tried to hide it.”
Iran’s outbreak, he added, “will not last long in the country and will pack up”.