Anti-government protests have continued in Iran following authorities acknowledged that four detainees were killed in a fire that broke out at Tehran’s Evin prison on Saturday night.
Iranian officials said the prisoners died of smoke inhalation and that 61 other detainees were injured.
Sources inside Evin or in contact with the prisoners told the BBC they believe the death toll is likely be older.
Videos shared online showed flames and smoke at the prison. Gunshots and explosions might also be heard.
what happened happens following weeks of intense protests once morest the government.
Hundreds of those who participated in the mobilizations were reportedly sent to Evin. It is not known if the situation in the prison is related to the demonstrations.
Protests first erupted last month in the face of anger over the death in police custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish Mahsa Amini.
The authorities claim that she died of an underlying health condition, but her family maintains that she was beaten by the morality police.
Protests following the death of Mahsa Amini have taken place in Tehran and other cities in the country.
The anti-government monitoring group 1500tasvir posted videos of the fire online. In one, chants of “death to the dictator” might be heard in the background, one of the main slogans of the anti-government protest movement.
On Saturday night, prisoners’ families and lawyers were not allowed near the jail and roads were blocked, relatives of a political prisoner told the BBC’s Iranian service.
On Saturday, the state news agency reported that inmates in one of the wings had set fire to one of the prison’s warehouses; however, the BBC was unable to independently confirm this information.
The official IRNA news agency also said the riots that sparked the fire had ended, citing an unnamed official source as saying “problems” arose between inmates and guards in the section of the prison that houses “thugs.” , which seems to suggest that political prisoners were not involved.
“The situation is currently completely under control,” IRNA reported on Saturday, citing the unnamed source.
Images posted on the internet appear to show a fire at Evin prison.
Riot police officers were seen entering the jail and state media also reported that firefighters were at the scene. There were reports that special forces were deployed in the area.
A witness told the Archyde.com news agency on Saturday that a group of relatives of the prisoners had managed to gather “in front of the main gate”.
“I can see fire and smoke. A lot of special forces. Ambulances are here too,” he added.
In addition to political prisoners, journalists and many foreign and dual nationals are imprisoned in Evin.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, a dual British-Iranian national, were detained on espionage charges, which they denied, before their release earlier this year. They were jailed for six and five years, respectively.
The Evin prison, in Tehran, is designated as a place of detention for political prisoners and journalists.
The prison has long been criticized by Western human rights groups.
Human Rights Watch has accused prison authorities of using threats of torture and indefinite imprisonment, as well as lengthy interrogations and denying detainees medical care.
A group of hackers calling themselves Edalat-e Ali (Justice of Ali) released videos in August last year of leaked surveillance footage from Evin prison showing guards beating or roughing up inmates.
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