CAIRO (AP) — A towering blaze at a infamous jail housing political prisoners and anti-government activists in Iran’s capital killed 4 inmates, the nation’s judiciary mentioned Sunday. The dramatic scenes of the nighttime hearth have reverberated throughout Iranian social media.
Flames and thick smoke rising from Tehran’s Evin Jail had been broadly seen Saturday night, as nationwide anti-government protests triggered by the demise of a younger girl in police custody entered a fifth week. In on-line movies, gunshots and explosions may very well be heard within the space of the jail.
The blaze was extinguished after a number of hours and no detainees escaped, state media mentioned.
Authorities have tried to distance the occasions on the jail from the continuing protests, whereas state media has supplied conflicting accounts of the violence. A whole bunch are being held at Evin, the place human rights teams have reported repeated abuses of prisoners.
Households of inmates gathered Sunday close to the jail hoping for information of their family members inside.
Masoumeh, 49, who solely gave her first identify, mentioned her 19-year-old son was taken to the jail two weeks in the past after collaborating on the street protests. “I can not belief information about his well being, I must see him intently,” she mentioned.
One other man, Reza, who additionally gave solely his first identify, mentioned his brother has been in Evin Jail since final yr after he was concerned in a violent quarrel. “He didn't name us in latest days and following final night time’s hearth I'm right here to be taught what occurred to him,” he mentioned.
State media initially reported 9 folks had been injured however the judiciary-affiliated web site Mizan.information on Sunday mentioned 4 inmates died of smoke inhalation and 61 others had been injured. It mentioned all 4 who died had been in jail on theft convictions.
Ten inmates had been hospitalized, with 4 of them in severe situation, Mizan reported. It mentioned some prisoners had tried to flee however failed.
State TV on Sunday aired video purporting to point out the hearth’s aftermath of scorched partitions and ceilings in a room it mentioned was the higher flooring of a stitching workshop on the jail.
“This hearth was brought on by a battle between some prisoners in a stitching workshop,” mentioned Tehran Gov. Mohsen Mansouri.
Iranian social media posts challenged state media claims over the reason for the hearth and obvious explosions on the jail. Former inmate of Evin and rights activist Atena Daemi mentioned in a Tweet Sunday that usually, all prisoners are despatched to their wards and the workshops closed by sundown.
The European Union’s prime diplomat Josep Borrell expressed his “most severe concern” to Iran’s international minister and known as for “most transparency on the scenario” following the jail blaze and obvious violence.
Iranian authorities are liable for the lives of “all detainees, together with human rights defenders and EU nationals,” Borrell mentioned in a Tweet Sunday.
Iran’s state-run IRNA information company reported Saturday that there have been clashes between prisoners in a single ward and jail personnel, citing a senior safety official. The official mentioned “rioters” set hearth to a warehouse stuffed with jail uniforms, which precipitated the blaze.
The official mentioned the “scenario is totally underneath management” and that firefighters had been extinguishing the flames. Later, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi mentioned that calm had returned to the jail and that the unrest was not associated to the protests which have swept the nation for 4 weeks.
The U.S.-based Heart for Human Rights in Iran reported that an “armed battle” broke out inside the jail partitions. It mentioned photographs had been first heard in Ward 7 of the jail. This account couldn't instantly be corroborated.
Footage of the hearth circulated on-line. Movies confirmed photographs ringing out as plumes of smoke rose into the sky amid the sound of an alarm. A protest broke out on the road quickly after, with many chanting “Loss of life to the Dictator!” — a reference to Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — and burning tires, the movies confirmed.
On-line video of the jail hearth appeared to point out projectiles being launched into the jail’s space by safety forces, adopted by the sound of not less than two explosions. It wasn’t instantly clear what sort of rounds Iranian safety forces used within the incident.
Witnesses mentioned that police blocked roads and highways to Evin and that not less than three sturdy explosions had been heard coming from the world. Visitors was heavy alongside main freeways close to the jail, which is within the north of the capital, and many individuals honked to point out their solidarity with protests.
Riot police had been seen driving on motorbikes towards the power, as had been ambulances and firetrucks. Witnesses reported that the web was blocked within the space.
The jail hearth occurred as protesters intensified anti-government demonstrations alongside major streets and at universities within the capital and different cities throughout Iran on Saturday. Human rights screens reported a whole bunch useless, together with kids, because the motion concluded its fourth week.
Wider protests within the northern metropolis of Ardebil erupted following reviews a teen, Asra Panahi, died after police confronted protesting ladies at a highschool. Official denied the report saying she died due to a continual coronary heart downside and police didn't hit her.
The protests erupted after public outrage over the demise of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. She was arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict gown code. Iran’s authorities insists Amini was not mistreated in police custody, however her household says her physique confirmed bruises and different indicators of beating after she was detained.
President Joe Biden, on a visit to Oregon, mentioned the Iranian “authorities is so oppressive” and that he had an “huge quantity of respect for folks marching within the streets.”
Evin Jail, which holds detainees dealing with security-related fees and consists of twin residents, has been charged by rights teams with abusing inmates. The power has lengthy been identified for holding political prisoners in addition to these with ties to the West who've been utilized by Iran as bargaining chips in worldwide negotiations.
Iranian officers have downplayed the specter of anti-government protests within the nation even because the variety of deaths and arrests has swelled. Rights teams say over 200 protesters have been killed since demonstrations swept Iran on Sept. 17. Over two dozen safety drive members have been killed within the unrest, in accordance with Iranian authorities.