Iran airs video from Avin prison hours after fire, tells Joe Biden to stop interfering – Times of India

DUBAI: Iranian state television broadcast a video clearly showing that peace had returned after an overnight fire at Tehran’s Avin prison on Sunday as unrest spread mahsa aminiHe died in police custody last month.
Iranian officials said the workshop was set on fire “after a fight between several prisoners convicted of financial crimes and theft”. Evin has several detainees facing security charges, including dual-national Iranians.
When asked about the prison fire, the US President Joe Biden He told reporters during a campaign trip in Portland, Oregon on Saturday that the Iranian government was “so oppressive” and that he was surprised by the courage of Iranian protesters.
Iranthe foreign ministry said Biden He interfered in the affairs of the state by showing support for the anti-government demonstrations. The authorities have responded with brutal action.
Rights groups said at least 240 protesters, including 32 minors, have been killed in anti-government protests. Iranian activist news agency HRANA said on Saturday that more than 8,000 people had been arrested in 111 cities and towns.
Among the casualties are teenage girls whose deaths have sparked a rally for more demonstrations across the country.
Iran, which has accused enemies of violence at home and abroad, denied that security forces killed the protesters. State media said on Saturday that at least 26 members of the security forces had been killed by “rioters”.
The protests have attracted international condemnation, with the United States, Canada and some European countries imposing sanctions on Iranian officials and organizations “involved in coercing the protesters”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said, “On Saturday … Biden interfered in Iran’s state affairs by supporting the riots … In recent days, the US administration has tried to incite unrest in Iran under various pretexts.” Tried hard.”
Footage from Evin aired on state television showed firefighters inspecting a workshop to find that the roof had been damaged by the fire. It clearly showed “peace is restored as sleep” to the prisoners in their wards.
state news agency IRNA: Eight people were injured in a fire that broke out at Avin Prison on Saturday. But the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday that “no precise official figures of those injured or possible casualties have yet been published”.
Video obtained by Reuters shows protesters marching through traffic towards Tehran’s Avin prison on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Iran’s infamous Avin prison, which houses criminal convicts as well as political detainees, has long been criticized by Western rights groups and blacklisted by the US government in 2018 for “serious human rights abuses” was.
The protests are one of the boldest challenges to the clerical regime since the 1979 revolution, with demonstrations spreading across the country and widespread calls for the fall of the Islamic Republic, even as the unrest draws closer to dismantling the system. Don’t be