A resident of the district, whose house abuts the jail, stated she may see a number of buildings within the jail compound on fireplace and that she had heard screams coming from inside. Talking on the situation of anonymity for concern of reprisal, she stated she had heard gunshots starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday. By 9 p.m., she stated, she may hear the sounds of automated gunfire, adopted by huge explosions.
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The girl stated the home windows of many close by properties had been shattered by the blasts and that locals might be heard shouting “loss of life to the dictator.”
Properly into the early hours of Sunday morning, and after the fires had been reportedly extinguished, residents continued to report listening to further blasts.
Web and phone communications have been severely disrupted in Iran since anti-government protests erupted final month. On Saturday, the judiciary ordered telecom firms to ban text-messaging providers, additional limiting the power of Iranians to speak.
Saturday’s conflagration, the primary on the jail in current reminiscence, occurred in opposition to the backdrop of nationwide protests that started in September after Mahsa Amini, 22, died whereas within the custody of the morality police. Ms. Amini was accused of improperly sporting a required head scarf, a violation of the regulation within the Islamic Republic.
Iranians, already on edge after greater than a month of protests, stated the hearth on the jail had solely elevated their anxieties. The households of detainees stated they feared not just for the security of their family members, but additionally for themselves.
Human rights activists and organizations additionally expressed concern in regards to the security of the prisoners.
“Prisoners, together with numerous political prisoners, are utterly defenseless inside that jail,” Hadi Ghaemi, the chief director of the Middle for Human Rights in Iran, stated in a press release.