DUBAI, Oct 15 (Reuters) – A hearth broke out on Saturday in Tehran’s Evin jail, the place lots of Iran’s political and dual-national detainees are held, and witnesses reported listening to gunfire.
State information company IRNA mentioned eight individuals had been injured within the unrest, which erupted after practically a month of protests throughout Iran over the dying in detention of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian lady.
The protests have posed one of the severe challenges to the Islamic Republic because the 1979 revolution, with demonstrations spreading throughout the nation and a few individuals chanting for the dying of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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An Iranian judiciary assertion mentioned a jail workshop was set on fireplace “after a fight among a number of prisoners convicted of financial crimes and theft”. Tehran’s fireplace division instructed state media the reason for the incident was below investigation.
The jail, situated within the foothills at the northern fringe of the Iranian capital, holds legal convicts in addition to political detainees.
“Roads leading to Evin prison have been closed to traffic. There are lots of ambulances here,” mentioned a witness contacted by Reuters. “Still, we can hear gunshots.”
Another witness mentioned households of prisoners had gathered in entrance of the principle jail entrance. “I can see fire and smoke. Lots of special forces,” the witness mentioned.
A safety official mentioned calm had been restored at the jail, however the first witness mentioned ambulance sirens might be heard and smoke nonetheless rose over the jail.
“People from nearby buildings are chanting ‘Death to Khamenei’ from their windows,” the witness mentioned.
Early on Sunday, IRNA carried a video it mentioned confirmed jail areas broken by fireplace. Firemen had been seen dousing the particles with water, apparently to stop the blaze from re-igniting.
The jail largely holds detainees dealing with safety expenses, together with Iranians with dual nationality. It has lengthy been criticised by Western rights teams and was blacklisted by the U.S. authorities in 2018 for “serious human rights abuses”.
Siamak Namazi, an Iranian American imprisoned for practically seven years on espionage-related expenses rejected by Washington as baseless, returned to Evin on Wednesday after being granted a quick furlough, his lawyer mentioned.
Other U.S. residents held in Evin embody environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who additionally has British nationality, and businessman Emad Shargi, in line with human rights lawyer Saeid Dehghan.
He added that a number of different dual nationals are held at Evin, together with French-Iranian educational Fariba Adelkhah and Iranian-Swedish Ahmadreza Djalali, a catastrophe drugs physician.
Asked in regards to the jail fireplace, U.S. President Joe Biden instructed reporters throughout a marketing campaign journey to Portland, Oregon: “The Iranian government is so oppressive.”
A jail guard stands alongside a hall in Tehran’s Evin jail June 13, 2006./File Photo
He mentioned he was shocked by “the courage of people and women taking (to) the street” within the latest protests and had huge respect for them. “It’s been really amazing,” he added. “They’re not a good group, in the government.”
U.S. State Department Spokesman Ned Price tweeted, “we are following reports from Evin Prison with urgency. We are in contact with the Swiss as our protecting power. Iran is fully responsible for the safety of our wrongfully detained citizens, who should be released immediately.”
Human Rights Watch has accused authorities at the jail of utilizing threats of torture and of indefinite imprisonment, in addition to prolonged interrogations and denial of medical look after detainees.
“No security (political) prisoner was involved in today’s clash between prisoners, and basically the ward for security prisoners is separate and far from the wards for thieves and those convicted of financial crimes,” an unnamed official instructed the Tasnim information company.
‘CLERICS GET LOST’
The unrest at Evin jail occurred after practically a month of protests throughout Iran since Amini – a 22-year-old lady from the nation’s Kurdish area – died on Sept. 16 whereas being held for “inappropriate attire”.
Although the unrest doesn’t seem near toppling the system, the protests have widened into strikes which have closed outlets and companies, touched the important vitality sector and impressed brazen acts of dissent towards Iran’s non secular rule.
On Saturday protesters throughout Iran chanted within the streets and in universities towards the nation’s clerical leaders.
A video posted by the Norway-based organisation Iran Human Rights purported to point out protests within the northeastern metropolis of Mashhad, Iran’s second-most populous metropolis, with demonstrators chanting “Clerics get lost” and drivers honking their horns.
Videos posted by the group confirmed a strike by shopkeepers within the northwestern Kurdish metropolis of Saqez – Amini’s residence city. Another video on social media confirmed feminine highschool college students chanting “Woman, Life, Freedom” on the streets of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the movies. Phone and web providers in Iran have been often disrupted over the past month and web watchdog NetBlocks reported “a new major disruption” shortly earlier than Saturday’s protests started.
The Iranian activist information company HRANA mentioned in a posting on-line that 240 protesters had been killed within the unrest, together with 32 minors. It mentioned 26 members of the safety forces had been killed and practically 8,000 individuals had been arrested in protests in 111 cities and cities and a few 73 universities.
Among the casualties have been teenage women whose deaths have turn out to be a rallying cry for extra demonstrations demanding the downfall of the Islamic Republic.
Protesters known as on Saturday for demonstrations within the northwestern metropolis of Ardabil over the dying of Asra Panahi, a youngster from the Azeri ethnic minority who activists alleged was crushed to dying by safety forces.
Officials denied the report and information companies near the Revolutionary Guards quoted her uncle as saying the highschool scholar had died of a coronary heart drawback.
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Reporting by Dubai bureau, further reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Mike Stone and Jeff Mason in Washington,
Writing by Dominic Evans
Editing by Helen Popper, William Maclean, Paul Simao and Diane Craft
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.