Several videos on social media are said to show the fire in the Evin prison in the capital Tehran, where political prisoners are held. Shots and an alarm were also reported on Saturday evening, writes Reuters. The roads into the prison were blocked, and riot police were observed on their way to the prison on motorbikes, along with ambulances and fire engines. The internet is blocked in the area, according to eyewitnesses. For the past five weeks, there have been nationwide demonstrations against the regime in the country. According to Iran International, there are supposed to be several protesters who are in prison. Confirms clash According to the state-run news agency IRNA, no one has lost their life in the fire, while eight people are said to have been injured. Authorities confirm that there had been unrest and clashes in the prison, and a senior official told the Irna news agency that the fire started because inmates set fire to a warehouse full of prison uniforms. The “troublemakers” have been separated from the others in an attempt to calm the situation, according to the source. Many cars honked in solidarity with the regime-critical demonstrators. The protests continued into the night. The internet is supposed to be blocked in the area, according to witnesses. – People shouted “die, Khamenei” from the surrounding buildings, the witness told the news agency. Ayatollah Khamenei is Iran’s supreme leader. A prison officer stands in a corridor in Evin prison in 2006. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl / Reuters The US asks Iran to release Americans The US State Department warned the authorities in Iran on Saturday. – Iran is responsible for the safety of our isolated citizens at Evin prison. These have been arrested on false grounds, and should be released immediately, tweeted the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ned Price. Notorious prison Professor at UiO Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, who is originally from Iran, says that there are many political prisoners in Evin. – Evin is the most notorious prison in Iran. There are many political prisoners, and there are many stories about activists and human rights defenders who have been subjected to torture there, or spent long periods in solitary confinement, says Amiry-Moghaddam to news. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam fled Iran as a child, but still has a wide network of contacts in the country. Photo: PETTER BERNTSEN / AFP Evin prison was opened in 1972, and has long been criticized by Western human rights groups. Several Western citizens are also in prison, including the French-Iranian university professor Fariba Abdelkah and the American-Iranian businessman Siamak Namazi. In 2018, Evin was blacklisted by the United States for serious human rights violations. Amiry-Moghaddam says he is very worried about those sitting inside Evin now: – There are some of our leading political and human rights activists. When a prison is on fire, of course people will try to get out. But the fact that shots have been heard makes me very worried. Amiry-Moghaddam says the current situation in Iran is unprecedented since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. – It has been four weeks since the protests began, and there is no indication that they will let up. On the contrary, they are getting bigger. People are very angry. I don’t think we’ve had anything like it since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. This is despite the authorities trying to crack down on the protesters. Over 200 have been killed and many have been arrested. Several of them have been transported to Evin.
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Fire and shooting at Evin prison in Iran – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
