Iran prison fire toll doubles as protest tensions surge
A protester in Turkey with an Iranian flag painted on her face shouts outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul on October 17.
Eight inmates died in a fire that raged in Iran's Evin prison, the judiciary said Monday, doubling the official toll from a blaze that has further stoked tensions one month into protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
Authorities blamed the fire in the Tehran jail late Saturday on "riots and clashes" among prisoners, but human rights groups said they doubted the official version of events and feared the real toll could be higher.
Gunshots and explosions were heard during the dramatic blaze from inside the complex, according to social media footage, and state media later broadcast images of parts of the prison gutted by the flames.
Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said Monday that the fire was "a crime committed by a few elements linked to the enemy".
"The number of those killed in Evin Prison is probably higher than the official count," it added.
IHR said many prisoners had been transferred to Gohardasht prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, in the aftermath of the fire.
The fire came after four weeks of protests over the death of 22-year-old Amini, following her arrest for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.
At least 122 people have been killed in the crackdown on the Amini protests, and at least 93 more died in separate clashes in Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan province, according to an updated toll published by IHR. These tolls include 27 children, it added.
They called on the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to hold a special session and "establish an independent, investigative reporting and accountability mechanism" to probe the rights violations.
- 'Not close our eyes' -
Freedom of expression activist Hossein Ronaghi called his mother from Evin, where he has been held since last month, and "could hardly speak and could only say a few words," his brother Hassan wrote on Twitter.
But the wife of activist Majid Tavakoli, likewise arrested during the crackdown, wrote on Twitter that she had no news from her husband since the fire.
European Union foreign ministers endorsed new sanctions on Monday -- including visa bans and asset freezes -- targeting the morality police, Information Minister Eisa Zarepour and the cyber division of its Revolutionary Guards.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Naser Kanani said Tehran would give an "immediate response" to the sanctions. The United States, Britain and Canada have already announced sanctions against Iran over rights violations.