Iran | Four dead and 60 injured in fire at Evin prison

(Paris) Four prisoners died and more than 60 were injured in a fire at Evin prison in Tehran, after a month of protests against the death of the young Iranian Mahsa Amini, authorities announced on Sunday.

The fire Saturday evening in this infamous detention center was caused by “thugs who set fire to a warehouse of clothes”, and clashes opposed “rioters” and guards, indicated the official agency Irna.

The fire has been brought under control and “the situation has returned to normal”, authorities said.

“Four prisoners, convicted of theft, died due to smoke inhalation and 61 others were injured, four of them seriously”, indicated the Judicial Authority.

Irna stressed that the unrest in Evin had “nothing to do” with protests in the country sparked by the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, and entered their fifth week despite a crackdown that has left at least 108 dead according to the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR).

According to images posted on social media, gunshots and the sound of explosions were heard during the fire at the prison, where foreigners are held in particular and which is notorious for its mistreatment of political prisoners.

Hundreds of those arrested during protests against the death of Mahsa Amini were reportedly sent to this prison.

Despite the closure of the roads towards Evin, demonstrators went there on foot and chants of “Death to the dictator” – one of the main slogans of the protest – were heard in videos shared by the online media 1500tasvir .

After the fire, several NGOs as well as the United States expressed their concerns about the prisoners, but several foreign detainees were able to contact their families.

“The lives of every political and common prisoner in Evin are at risk,” said the Oslo-based IHR.

Foreign prisoners in safety

“Prisoners, including political detainees, are completely defenseless” in Evin, said Hadi Ghaemi, director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

Among the foreign detainees are the Franco-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah and the American Siamak Namazi.

But Fariba Adelkhah’s support group said they had “reassuring” news, and Siamak Namazi’s US attorney said he had “been moved to a secure area of ​​the prison”.

The family of Austrian detainee Massoud Mossaheb said he was alive but had inhaled smoke. And the other Austrian prisoner Kamran Ghaderi is also safe.

Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was detained at Evine, said she learned from relatives of the political prisoners that they were “all safe”.

The sister of a US citizen detained in Evin, businessman Emad Shargi, tweeted that her family was “worried to death”.

“Iran bears full responsibility for the safety of our wrongfully detained citizens, who must be released immediately,” the United States warned.

” Much more ”

According to NGOs, demonstrations took place overnight in solidarity with the detainees of Evin, after a day of protests against the death of Mahsa Amini under the slogan “The beginning of the end! ” power.

The young woman died three days after her arrest for having, according to the morality police, violated the strict dress code in Iran which mainly provides for the wearing of the veil.

Since then, the Iranian women, spearheading the protests, have shouted anti-government slogans, removed their headscarves and stood up to the security forces.

“The mullahs must get out! chanted women without veils at the Shariati Technical and Vocational College in Tehran on Saturday, according to an online video.

Young people demonstrated in the universities of Tehran, Isfahan (South) and Kermanshah (North-West), according to images shared online.

Iranian leaders accuse the United States, their sworn enemy, of destabilizing their country by fomenting “riots”. On Sunday, Iranian diplomacy again rejected the “interference” of President Joe Biden, described as a “tired politician”.

The protests in Iran are the largest since those in 2019 against rising gasoline prices in the oil-rich country.

But according to Cornelius Adebahr, an analyst for Carnegie Europe, it takes “much more than protests and sanctions” from Western countries to topple the Iranian regime.