The death toll in the major fire at the notorious Evin prison in the Iranian capital Tehran has risen to eight, according to regime authorities. Four more prisoners were killed, the judiciary announced on Monday. While all victims are said to be from the wing of the prison where inmates serve time for robbery offences, the information cannot be verified.

There are contradictory statements about who set the fire. The regime declared the prisoners to be the culprits early on. According to the judiciary, a fire was set in a workshop of the prison "after an argument between prisoners". The prison administration spoke of a short-term mutiny, stating the situation was quickly brought under control. "Hooligans and rioters" also started an altercation with the prison guards and then started a fire in the textile store, according to the officials.

FLYING OBJECTS HIT PRISON

But videos posted on social media show not only the fire and traffic jams on the streets, which were cordoned off by police and hooded special forces to keep out prisoners' supporters, but also flying objects hitting the prison, after which explosions can be seen. The opposition and protest movement are convinced that Evin was deliberately set on fire. Past experience has shown that representations by the regime have always proved to be untrue, especially in times of crisis and uprising, they say.

DISAPPEARED PRISONERS?

According to eyewitnesses, in addition to several explosions, gunshots were heard coming from the detention centre on Saturday evening. In the morning hours of Sunday, several ambulances and two prison buses also left the Evin campus. The buses were escorted by a convoy of security force vehicles. Whether the bus occupants were the injured prisoners and where they were taken to remains completely unclear. There are fears that they may be "disappeared political prisoners".

"The detainees, including countless political prisoners, are completely defenceless in this prison," Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based human rights organisation Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), said after the fire in Evin. "The Iranian authorities have repeatedly shown total disregard for human life, and we are extremely concerned that prisoners are being killed as we speak."

KODAR CALLS FOR PROTESTS

The Democratic and Free Society of East Kurdistan (KODAR), in view of the official account of the fire in Evin prison, spoke of a "scenario to suppress the popular uprising" and called for intensified street protests.

Prisons have become centres of resistance against the regime's oppression over the past 43 years. They are places where freedom is demanded. What happened last night is a continuation of the massacre of political prisoners in 1998. Iran's rebellious population is aware that such terrorist actions are meant to spread fear and put down the uprising,” said the KODAR statement on Sunday.

KODAR also referred to similar attacks on 1 October in Sine (Sanandaj) Central Prison and said that the measures were directed against political activists and all women and men in the country's prisons.

NOTORIOUS PRISON

Evin prison in the north of Tehran is considered one of the worst prisons in Iran. Human rights organisations have been denouncing the conditions there as cruel and inhumane for years. Thousands of political prisoners are held in the torture centre, some of whom have been detained for years. However, numerous demonstrators who were arrested in recent weeks because of their participation in the protests against the Iranian regime after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini are also being held hostage there.