Following the unrest and fires that broke out inside the prison, the US State Department issued a warning that Iran bears responsibility for the protection of American nationals detained in Evin Prison.
“Iran is fully responsible for the safety of our citizens without right and who must be released immediately,” Foreign spokesman Ned Price added in a tweet on Sunday, adding that Washington is urgently following the reports of the accident.
Many political and nationalist prisoners were being imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison on Saturday when a fire broke out there, and there were reports of gunshots from bystanders.
In response to the protests that erupted around Iran over the previous month in response to Muhsa Amini’s passing, the official (IRNA) news agency said that eight individuals were hurt in the prison riots.
Detainees with security-related accusations, including dual nationalities, are frequently housed there.
Western human rights organisations have consistently denounced the jail, and the US government put it on a “black list” in 2018 as a result of the egregious human rights violations it saw.
Siamak Namazi, an Iranian American who was imprisoned in Iran for nearly seven years on spying charges, had returned to Evin on Wednesday after he was allowed to go out for a short period, his lawyer said.
According to human rights attorney Saeed Dahqan, two other American citizens held at Evin include environmental expert Murad Tahbaz, who is also a British citizen, and businessman Imad Sharqi.
Human Rights Watch accused the prison authorities of using the threat of torture and imprisonment indefinitely to subjugate inmates, as well as conducting long interrogations with them and depriving them of medical care.
It is significant that the unrest in Evin prison took place during a nearly month-long wave of nationwide protests that were sparked by the death of Amini, a 22-year-old woman from Iran’s Kurdish minority, on September 16 while she was being held against her will for wearing “inappropriate clothing.”
Washington: Iran is in charge of ensuring that Americans are secure at Evin Prison.
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