Protests Continue In Iran After Mysterious Fire In Tehran Prison

Sunday protests across Iran were mainly focused on reactions to the mysterious fire at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and the death of a schoolgirl in the northwestern city of Ardabil. 

Amid a nationwide uprising ignited by death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, the protest rallies started at several universities across the country Sunday morning with students at University of Tehran chanting, "Tehran has turned into a Prison, Evin has turned into Slaughterhouse." At least four people died Saturday evening as a large fire spread in Evin Prison while gunshots and blasts were heard.

"Another Cinema Rex Fire Happening. Enough Is Enough, People, Join Us," Tehran University students were heard chanting, referring to the deadly 1978 fire at Cinema Rex of Abadan in southern Iran which killed some 400 people and intensified the 1979 Revolution.

Students at Azad University of Karaj were chanting, "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I Sacrifice My Life for Iran" during their rallies at the campus, in defiance of the authorities who have threatened students with expulsion if they continue their protests. 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday that he is following evolving reports on the situation in Evin prison, noting that Iranian authorities are responsible for lives of all detainees, including human rights defenders and EU nationals.

Borrell said that he expressed his “most serious concern” to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, saying that the EU “expects maximum transparency on the situation.”

Echoing the sentiments, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, “The government of Iran bears responsibility for all those imprisoned in Tehran's Evin Prison, including many political prisoners and demonstrators.”

Protests were also reported at universities in the northeastern city of Bojnourd, the northern city of Babol, and several cities in the southwestern provinces of Khuzestan and Lorestan. Some clashes were also reported in the central city of Yazd, with a population known to be sympathetic to the Islamic Republic. 

Outraged by the death of a schoolgirl, citizens of the city of Ardabil also held protest rallies, which broke into clashes in some areas. 

School officials in Ardabil tried to force the students to sing the propaganda song “Hello Commander” in praise of Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei Wednesday, but when some students refused, government agents showed up, beating and assaulting the girls. One student, identified as Asra Panahi, reportedly died of her injuries at the hospital while another one is in critical condition.

Tehran was also the scene of sporadic clashes and demonstrations, with teargas and gunshots used to disperse the protests. 

According to videos on social media, a group of residents in Tehran's Ekbatan township held a protest march in the evening, with slogans likening Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to ISIS terrorists, while people residing in the Nazi Abad neighborhood clashed with security forces who tried to disperse their demonstration.