Smoke inhalation was said to be the cause of the deaths, IRNA reported on Sunday, adding that 10 inmates were hospitalized with four in a “critical condition”. The facility mainly holds political prisoners, including Iranians with dual citizenship. Families of about a dozen political prisoners have called to say they were not injured, according to their social media accounts. The prison has long been criticized by Western rights groups and was blacklisted by the United States government in 2018 for “serious human rights violations”. The incident took place as nationwide protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, entered their fifth week. The protests have posed one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s government since the 1979 revolution, with demonstrations spreading across the country and some people chanting slogans against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. State television on Sunday aired footage of the aftermath of the fire, showing charred walls and ceilings in a room it said was on the top floor of a sewing workshop in the prison. Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said the prison riot was unrelated to the nationwide protests and the situation was peaceful after the incident. The fire started at around 10:30pm (6.30pm GMT), Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar said, adding that various units of the prison were involved. Fire damage inside the Evin prison building [IRNA via AFP] “Officials here say that there were clashes between prisoners and that some of these prisoners set fire to the warehouse, the sewing workshop of the prison,” Sardar said, referring to a statement made earlier by Tehran Governor Mohsen Mansouri. “However, some witnesses say that some Molotov cocktails were thrown into the prison and that they started the fire. Soon after, we saw the security forces firing and also using tear gas to disperse the people,” he added. An eyewitness contacted by Reuters news agency said roads leading to Evin prison have been closed to traffic. “There are a lot of ambulances here,” he said. Another witness said families of prisoners gathered in front of the prison’s main entrance. “I can see fire and smoke. A lot of special forces,” the witness said. A security official said calm had been restored in the prison, while IRNA reported that “the situation is currently fully under control.” But the first witness told Reuters that ambulance sirens could be heard and smoke was still rising above the prison. From Evin Prison on Mehr 23, gunshots are heard and smoke from a fire is seen. #Mehsa_Amini pic.twitter.com/vrei5cu9eM — +1500tasvir (@1500tasvir) October 15, 2022 Early Sunday, IRNA released a video it said showed parts of the prison damaged by fire. Firefighters were seen dousing the debris with water, apparently to prevent the fire from rekindling.
“numb with worry”
Among those arrested are French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah and American citizen Siamak Namazi, whose family said he was taken back into custody this week after being temporarily released.
Reacting to reports of the fire, Namazi’s family said in a statement to the AFP news agency released by their lawyer that they were “deeply concerned” and had not heard from him.
They called on the Iranian authorities to grant him “immediate” means to contact his family and to grant him leave “as he is clearly not safe in Evin prison”.
The sister of another US citizen held at Evin, businessman Emad Shargi, said in a Twitter post his family was “numb with worry”.
An unnamed Iranian official told the Tasnim news agency that none of the political prisoners were involved in Saturday’s riots.
“No security inmate was involved in today’s clash between inmates and essentially the ward for security inmates is separate and away from the wards for thieves and those convicted of financial crimes,” the official was quoted as saying.
Protests reported near #Evin prison in Tehran after the prison caught fire with sounds of gunshots and explosions. #Mahsa_Amini
Frame: pic.twitter.com/9XburD0Tf8
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) October 15,
Asked about the prison fire, US President Joe Biden told reporters during a campaign rally in Portland, Oregon: “The Iranian government is so oppressive.”
He said he was surprised by “the courage of the men and women who take [to] the road’ in the recent protests and had enormous respect for them. “It was really amazing,” he added. “They are not a good group in government.”
US State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted: “We are urgently following up on reports from Evin Prison. We are in contact with the Swiss as our protective force. Iran is fully responsible for the safety of our wrongfully imprisoned citizens, who should be released immediately.”
Human Rights Watch accused prison authorities of using threats of torture and indefinite imprisonment, as well as lengthy interrogations and denial of medical care to detainees.
The protests erupted after the death on September 16 of Amini, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for wearing an inappropriate hijab. He died in custody. The coroner’s report said he suffered no injuries to the head or vital organs.
Amini’s family have denied official accounts which attributed the 22-year-old’s death to conditions arising after surgery for a brain tumor at the age of eight.
While the unrest does not appear close to toppling the government, the protests have expanded into strikes that have shut down shops and businesses, affected the vital energy sector and inspired brazen acts of dissent against Iran’s religious authority.
On Saturday, protesters across Iran took to the streets and universities to chant against the country’s religious leaders.
A video released by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group purported to show protests in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran’s second most populous city, with protesters chanting “Clergy, get lost” and drivers honking their horns.
Videos posted by the group showed a strike by shopkeepers in the northwestern Kurdish town of Saqez – Amini’s hometown. Another video on social media shows high school girls chanting “Woman, Life, Freedom” in the streets of Sanadai, the capital of Kurdistan province.
The authenticity of the videos could not be immediately verified.
Iran’s HRANA news agency reported online that 240 protesters were killed in the unrest, including 32 minors. It said 26 members of the security forces were killed and nearly 8,000 people were arrested in protests in 111 cities and some 73 universities.
But the official death toll is far lower than rights groups and protesters estimate.
Among the victims were teenage girls whose deaths became a rallying cry for more protests demanding the fall of Iran’s government.
Demonstrators called for demonstrations in the northwestern city of Ardabil on Saturday over the death of Asra Panahi, a teenager from the Azeri ethnic minority who activists say was beaten to death by security forces.
Officials denied the report, and news outlets close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps quoted her uncle as saying the high school student died of a heart problem.
