Several videos on social media claim to show a fire in the Evin prison in the capital, Tehran, where political prisoners are held. Reuters wrote that shots and alarms will also be heard.
A special unit must have been sent to prison, according to the TV channel Iran International, which refers to videos from social media. And they wrote further, smoke from the inside was observed.
During the past five weeks, there have been nationwide demonstrations against the regime in the country. According to Iran International, there are supposed to be many protesters in prison.
conflicting messages
According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), no one was lost in the fire, while eight people were injured.
Things should have calmed down around the prison by now, and the fire brigade will be on the scene. Erna claims that.
But according to Iran International, witnesses are still reporting gunshots and explosions from the prison.
IRNA claims that a conflict must erupt between prison guards and some prisoners after they set the clothes warehouse on fire. Furthermore, the agency wrote that these prisoners must have been taken away.
An eyewitness who spoke to Reuters said that families of prison inmates had gathered in front of the prison’s main door.
The source saw flames, smoke, several special forces and ambulances.
– A witness told the news agency that people were chanting “Khamenei dies” from the neighboring buildings.
Ayatollah Khamenei is the supreme leader of Iran.
A prison officer stands in a corridor at Evin Prison in 2006.
Photo: Morteza Nikobazel/Reuters
notorious prison
UiO professor Mahmoud Amiri Moghadam, who is of Iranian origin, says there are many political prisoners in Evin.
Evin Prison is the most notorious prison in Iran. There are many political prisoners, and there are many stories of activists and human rights defenders being tortured there, or spending long periods in solitary confinement, Amiri Moghadam told NRK.
Mahmoud Al Ameri Moghadam fled Iran as a child, but he still has an extensive network of contacts in the country.
Photo: Peter Berntsen/AFP
Evin Prison was opened in 1972, and has long been criticized by Western human rights groups.
A number of Western nationals are also in prison, including French-Iranian university professor Fariba Abdelka and Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi.
In 2018, Evin became Blacklisted by the United States to gross violations of human rights.
Amri Moghadam says he is very concerned about those sitting inside Evin right now:
– There are some of the most prominent political and human rights activists. When a prison is on fire, people will of course try to get out of it. But the fact of hearing the shots makes me very anxious.
Amiri Moghadam says that the current situation in Iran is unprecedented since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
– Four weeks have passed since the protests began, and there is no indication that they will surrender. On the contrary, they are growing up. People are very angry. I don’t think we’ve had anything like that since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. This is despite the authorities’ attempt to suppress protesters. More than 200 were killed and many arrested. Many of them were transferred to Evin.
The Iranian insurgency is growing in number: many children among the dead
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