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Gunshots and sirens can be heard from the detention facility in Iran

Gunshots and sirens can be heard from the detention facility in Iran

Gunshots and sirens can be heard from the detention facility in Iran

Gunshots and sirens can be heard from the detention facility in Iran

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  • The notorious Evin prison in Iran experienced a big fire on Saturday.
  • Gunshots and explosions could be heard.
  • Videos posted online showed flames and smoke at the site in Tehran.
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The notorious Evin prison in Iran, which houses political prisoners, journalists, and foreign people, experienced a big fire on Saturday.

Gunshots and explosions could be heard while videos posted online showed flames and smoke at the site in Tehran.

State media reported that the situation was under control, although video appeared to show the fire raging on even after this.

Protests against the government have been raging in Iran for weeks.

They started last month following the murder of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, 22, while in police custody. She was beaten by the morality police, according to her family, who contradicted the official account that she had a heart attack.

It is yet unknown whether the circumstance at the prison is connected to the recent protests, according to BBC Persian’s Rana Rahimpour.

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However, Rana noted that given the fact that Evin has received hundreds of demonstrators, this is certainly a possibility.

According to a government official who blamed “criminal elements” for the fire, state media has indicated the two are unrelated. According to the state-run media site IRNA, eight persons were hurt.

Tehran’s governor, speaking on state television from inside the facility, reported that there had been a riot in the wing of the facility holding petty offenders, but that everything had since calmed down.

On Saturday night, the first dramatic videos of the fire and smoke were uploaded to social media.

In some of the films, it was possible to hear gunshots and explosions, and in other footage, it was possible to hear people outside the prison yelling “death to the dictator,” which is one of the primary catchphrases of the anti-government protest movement.

According to BBC Persian, one video appeared to show things being fired into the prison from outside its walls, followed by the sound of an explosion.

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Outside the prison, a sizable crowd gathered, traffic halted, and riot police could be seen entering the building.

According to BBC Persian’s Kasra Naji, the situation at the prison remained unclear even after Iranian media reported that quiet had been restored. Videos of the flames and the sound of gunfire continued to circulate on social media.

Other images showed convicts on the roof of the prison’s wing housing political prisoners and many of the protesters detained over the previous four weeks, according to Kasra.

The BBC was informed by the families of some convicts that they had not been able to call their loved ones and that the prison’s internet connection looked to have been disrupted.

Later on, though, some detainees were able to contact their loved ones and let them know they were safe.

Journalist Niloufar Hamed’s husband claimed that when she was able to reach him on the phone, he assured her that he was alright but was unaware of what had occurred in the jail. Siamak Namazi, a dual citizen of Iran and the United States, informed his attorney that he had been transferred to a safe location.

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual citizen of both the United Kingdom and Iran, and Anoosheh Ashoori were both detained in the Evin prison for a number of years on suspicion of spying until being freed earlier this year.

The institution has long been under fire from Western human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch has charged the prison’s administrators with utilizing torture threats and indefinite detention as well as protracted interrogations and denying inmates medical care.

In August of last year, a gang of hackers going by the name Edalat-e Ali (Ali’s Justice) shared films of leaked surveillance footage from the Evin prison showing guards abusing or beating inmates.

Concern has been voiced by a few foreign governments whose people are detained there.

The UK Government’s security minister described it as a “very disturbing development,” while a representative for the US State Department said it was monitoring the situation “urgently.”

A wave of protests has spread around Iran since Ms. Amini’s passing five weeks ago, posing the most audacious challenge to the Islamic Republic since it was founded in 1979.

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Many of those who passed away were young adults.

Also Read

Mahsa Amini protests continue: There is a large fire in Iran’s Evin prison
Mahsa Amini protests continue: There is a large fire in Iran’s Evin prison

A large fire starts amid fighting at the Evin prison in Tehran....

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