US demands immediate release of two Americans held at notorious Iranian jail as fire sweeps through it – and gunshots, explosions and chants of ‘death to the dictator’ are heard in Tehran
- Evin prison is on fire with alarms and gunshots being heard, according to reports
- The prison is used to hold political detainees, including foreign nationals
- In the prison are Iranian-American citizens Saimak Namazi, 51, Emad Shargi, 57, and American resident Shahab Dalili, 59
- The reports follow weeks of unrest in Iran after a woman died in police custody
- Mahsa Amini was arrested by Iran’s ‘morality’ police for dress code violations
- Protesters are said to have gathered around the prison in the latest unrest in Iran
The US has called on an infamous Iranian prison to free its American political prisoners after a huge fire erupted inside following weeks of protests in the country.
Riots broke out at the notorious Evin prison in northern Tehran on Saturday night amid protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was detained by police for not wearing her hijab.
Gunshots, explosions and chants of ‘death to the dictator’ were all heard in the capital, and witnesses told MailOnline they heard automatic guns being fired, thought to be by police.
Amid the chaos, the US State Department demanded Iran secure the safety of two American citizens ‘wrongfully detained’ in the prison and asked for their swift release.
Iranian-Americans Saimak Namazi, 51, Emad Shargi, 57, are currently in the prison – as well as American resident and green card holder Shahab Dalili, 59.
‘We are following reports from Evin Prison with urgency,’ State Department spokesperson Ned Price tweeted. ‘We are in contact with the Swiss as our protecting power.
‘Iran is fully responsible for the safety of our wrongfully detained citizens, who should be released immediately.’
Online videos appear to show smoke rising from Evin prison in Tehran, with gunshots and an alarm being heard on Saturday
Among the Americans known to be in the prison is Saimak Namazi, 51, (above) who the UN said was wrongfully convicted to 10 years in prison on charges of collaborating with a hostile foreign government
Also in prison is Emad Shargi, 57, who was released and cleared of espionage charges in 2018 before the Iranian government locked him up anyway for the charges two years later
Shahab Dalili, 59, had recently moved to Virginia in 2016 before he was arrested in Iran when attending his father’s funeral. He is a green card holder, but not an American citizen
The US State Department demanded Iran secure the safety of two Americans ‘wrongfully detained’ in the prison and asked for their swift release
Images on social media show a huge fire with large plumes of smoke visible in the sky
WHO ARE THE AMERICANS DETAINED IN EVIN PRISON?
There are currently two Iranian-American citizens being held in the notorious Evin prison.
Saimak Namazi
The 51-year-old business man was living in Dubai when he was arrested in 2015 while visiting relatives in Iran.
United Nations officials said he was wrongfully convicted to 10 years in prison on charges of collaborating with a hostile foreign government.
Namazi became a US citizen in 1993, following his family’s exit from Iran during the 1979 revolution.
He is a Tufts University graduate who also served as a public scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Namazi’s father, Baquer, was shortly held in the Evin prison after visiting his son in 2016. He was released temporarily on medical furlough over a heart condition.
Although freed from the prison, Baquer is still under custody in the country.
Emad Shargi
Shargi, 57, was arrested in 2018 about a year after he and his wife moved from the US back to Iran.
Although Shargi was released and cleared of espionage charges, a Tehran court refused to return his passport.
In 2020, the court told him he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, and authorities captured him near the Iraqi border attempting to flee.
Shargi was a graduate from the University of Maryland and George Washington University.
He lived in Chicago with his wife before deciding to head back to his native Iran after his two daughters left home for college.
Shahab Dalili – a US resident with a green card
Dalili, 59, was arrested in 2016 after visiting Tehran for his father’s funeral.
Prior to his arrest, Dalili had recently moved with his wife to the US, where they settled down in Gainesville, Virginia.
His wife previously told NBC News that he was charged with ”aiding and abetting’ the U.S.
She has called on the Biden administration to help her husband after the government said it was working to help release the Namazi’s, Shargi and Nizar Zakka, another American who was freed in 2019.
State media reported that some inmates set fire to a prison warehouse and that the incident was under control, but gunshots continued to be heard into the early hours of Sunday as protesters gathered outside and internet was cut off.
There are allegations of torture, rape and horrific treatment of prisoners at Evin, which can hold up to 15,000 people.
Namazi, an Iranian American imprisoned for nearly seven years on espionage-related charges rejected by Washington as baseless, returned to Evin on Wednesday after being granted a brief furlough, his lawyer said.
The other U.S. citizen held in Evin was Shargi, according to human rights lawyer Saeid Dehghan.
Shargi, 57, was released and cleared of espionage charges in 2018 before the Iranian government locked him up anyway for the alleged crime two years later.
Also imprisoned was Dalili, a US resident who had recently moved to Virginia in 2016 before he was arrested in Iran when attending his father’s funeral.
He added that several other dual nationals are held at Evin, including French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah and Iranian-Swedish Ahmadreza Djalali, a disaster medicine doctor.
The prison is where high-profile British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe was held during her six years of imprisonment in Iran.
Morad Tahbaz, who also has British nationality, was recently in the prison but was released on bail over the summer.
‘No security (political) prisoner was involved in today’s clash between prisoners, and basically the ward for security prisoners is separate and far from the wards for thieves and those convicted of financial crimes,’ an unnamed official told the Tasnim news agency.
The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that an ‘armed conflict’ broke out within the prison walls. It said shots were first heard in Ward 7 of the prison, but this has not been confirmed.
Chants of ‘Death to Khamenei’ – referencing Iran’s leader and one of the main slogans of a month-long protest movement that has flared over the death of Amini – could be heard in the background of some videos.
Sources from opposition groups in Iran told MailOnline that they heard multiple explosions, and saw prisoners sitting on top of one of the prison’s buildings chanting anti-regime slogans.
There was no immediate comment by officials or reports from state media, but around an hour after the unrest was reported, state media said the incident was ‘completely under control’.
Reports from those in Tehran suggest gunshots are continuing to be fired, and protesters gathered outside the jail along with friends and family of those inside.
Witnesses said that police blocked roads Evin Prison and at least three strong explosions were heard coming from the area. Traffic was heavy along major motorways near the prison, which is in the north of the capital, and many people honked their horns to show their solidarity with the protests.
‘Roads leading to Evin prison have been closed to traffic. There are lots of ambulances here,’ said a witness contacted by Reuters. ‘Still, we can hear gunshots.’
Another witness said families of prisoners had gathered in front of the main prison entrance. ‘I can see fire and smoke. Lots of special forces,’ the witness said.
A security official said calm had been restored at the prison, but the first witness said ambulance sirens could be heard and smoke still rose over the prison.
‘People from nearby buildings are chanting ‘Death to Khamenei’ from their windows,’ the witness said.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died in police custody after being detained in Tehran by Iranian morality police who believed she was wearing her hijab too loosely
Amini’s death sparked outrage across the world, with a ‘March of Solidarity for Iran’ in Washington, D.C., held on Saturday
Evin prison has seen multiple accusations of torture, rape and other inhumane treatment of prisoners
Ms Zaghari Ratcliffe – a high-profile British-Iranian who was jailed at the prison – has spoken out about the unrest in Iran on multiple occasions
Riot police were seen riding on motorbikes toward the facility, as were ambulances and fire trucks.
Sources from opposition groups to the regime told MailOnline there was an initial explosion, followed by two more around an hour later.
This was followed by automatic gunfire and possible grenade explosions. They added guards sent ‘attack dogs’ into the prison and barking would be heard from outside the prison.
‘Troubles and clashes took place on Saturday night’ in the prison and inmates started a fire, the IRNA news agency said, citing a senior security official. ‘The situation is currently completely under control,’ the source added.
IRNA went on to report there were clashes between prisoners in one ward and prison personnel, citing a senior security official.
The official said prisoners set fire to a warehouse full of prison uniforms, which caused the blaze. He said the ‘rioters’ were separated from the other prisoners to de-escalate the conflict.
But there are videos of members of the public continuing to take to the streets in the capital, with reports that internet has been cut off from some areas of the city.
Multiple fire trucks have been pictured rushing to the scene to put out the flames, but have been caught up in heavy traffic as concerned friends, relatives and activists have rushed to the prison.
Hundreds of those detained during the protests over Amini’s death last month have reportedly been sent to Evin.
The US-based HRANA human rights group says more than 5,500 people have been arrested in a recent crackdown following widespread protests against the country’s leaders.
‘Gunshots can be heard from Evin Prison and smoke can be seen,’ said the activist website 1500tasvir, which also shared video footage it said showed special forces on motorbikes heading for the prison.
‘Families of prisoners have gathered in front of the main door of Evin prison,’ said a witness contacted by Reuters. ‘I can see fire and smoke. Lots of special forces. Ambulances are here too.’
Separate videos show dozens of police cars heading in the direction of the smoke.
The prison, which mostly holds detainees facing security charges, has long been criticized by Western rights groups and it was blacklisted by the US government in 2018 for ‘serious human rights abuses’.
Footage from locals in Tehran show huge plumes of smoke and a considerable blaze
The prison, which mostly holds detainees facing security charges, has long been criticised by Western rights groups and it was blacklisted by the US government in 2018 for ‘serious human rights abuses’
Human Rights Watch has accused authorities at the prison of using threats of torture and of indefinite imprisonment, as well as lengthy interrogations and denial of medical care for detainees.
In other footage, shared by local journalists, it is claimed people around the prison can be heard shouting ‘death to the dictator’.
It comes amid fierce protests against the country’s so-called morality police after a 22-year-old woman died in police custody.
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman from the country’s Kurdish region, died on September 16 while being held for ‘inappropriate attire’.
Evin jail is well-known as a prison specifically for political detainees, and was where Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held after being detained in Iran in 2016.
She has recently spoken out on the unrest in Iran, saying ‘the world cannot ignore [it].’
The reports of gunfire within the prison come after a nearly month-long crackdown by government and police.
The prison fire comes as Iranians protest over the death of Amini. Yasmine Pahlavi (center), the wife of the last crown prince of the former Imperial State of Iran, joined demonstrators showing their solidarity in Washington D.C.
They citizens marched for women’s rights following a crackdown from the nation’s morality police. Many of the victims have been teenage girls
The demonstrators chanted slogans and waved signs in support of a reformed Iran
There have been huge protests, chanting in the streets and in universities against the country’s leaders in a sustained wave of anger at the death of Mahsa Amini.
Other segments of society, including oil workers, have also joined the movement, which has spread to at least 19 cities, becoming one of the greatest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the country’s 2009 Green Movement.
Riots have also broken out in prisons, with clashes reported between inmates and guards in Lakan prison in the northern province of Gilan recently.
The protests, which have seen violent reactions from police, have widened into strikes that have closed shops and businesses, touched the vital energy sector and inspired brazen acts of dissent against Iran’s religious rule.
Crowds of women have been pictured rebelling against the strict law and ripping off their headscarves.
They have also been seen cutting their hair in the streets, a move that has been taken up by women around the world in a sign of solidarity.
An Iranian coroner claimed Amini had died from illness, not police violence, and insisted two girls killed during anti-hijab protests ‘fell off roofs’ despite claims security forces beat the teenagers to death.
Amini’s cousin, Erfan Mortezaei, has said that on the day she was arrested, she was forced into a police van and taken to the station where she was ‘tortured’.
‘There is a report from Kasra hospital [in Tehran] that says effectively by the time she reached the hospital she was already dead from a medical point of view,’ he told Sky News.
‘She suffered a concussion from a blow to the head.’
Footage emerged on Saturday which appeared to show a woman being seriously sexually assaulted by an officer during an arrest by police at a protest.
In a surprising move, Iranian officials have said they are looking into the incident.
A video posted by the Norway-based organisation Iran Human Rights purported to show protests in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran’s second most populous city, with demonstrators chanting ‘Clerics get lost’ and drivers honking their horns.
The Iranian activist news agency HRANA said on Saturday that 233 people had been killed in the unrest, including 32 minors and 26 members of the security forces.
More than 7,000 had been arrested in protests in 112 cities and towns and some 70 universities, it said in a posting online.
Among the casualties have been teenage girls whose deaths have become a rallying cry for more demonstrations demanding the downfall of the Islamic Republic.
Protesters called on Saturday for demonstrations in the northwestern city of Ardabil over the death of Asra Panahi, a teenager from the Azeri ethnic minority who activists alleged was beaten to death by security forces.
Officials denied the report and news agencies close to the Revolutionary Guards quoted her uncle as saying the high school student had died of a heart problem.
Videos posted on social media by activist website 1500tasvir purported to show street protests in Ardabil, while another social media video showed riot police retreating from rock-throwing demonstrators.
Iran has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, including armed separatists and Western powers, accusing them of conspiring against the Islamic Republic and denying that security forces have killed protesters.
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