Evin prison fire death toll rises to 8, Iran says, as EU imposes sanctions

A weekend fire at Iran's notorious Evin Prison damaged one of the largest buildings in the complex, according to satellite photos analyzed Monday. Authorities raised to eight the number of inmates killed, doubling the initial toll.

What happened on Saturday night at the prison for decades the main holding facility for political detainees and a centrepiece of the state's systematic crushing of dissent remains unclear. Online videos purport to show chaotic scenes with a prison siren wailing as flames rise from the complex, the apparent crackle of gunfire and people screaming: "Death to the dictator!"

The fire erupted as nationwide anti-government protests triggered by the death of a young woman in the custody of the country's morality police entered a fifth week. Tensions have escalated to a point unseen since the mass demonstrations that accompanied the country's 2009 Green Movement protests.

On Monday, the European Union agreed to a set of asset freezes and travel bans over Tehran's crackdown on protests, as several EU foreign ministers warned of further sanctions against Iran over the alleged transfer of Iranian drones to Russia.

The fire at one of Tehran's most heavily guarded facilities potentially raises the stakes for those continuing to rally against the government and the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, for women after the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini.

Satellite photos show damage

Satellite photos taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press show the roof burning away from a large building that's part of the northern section of Evin Prison. The prison also houses prisoners convicted of criminal charges.

The Iran Prison Atlas, a project by the California-based rights group United for Iran, which collects data on Iranian prisons and prisoners, had previously identified the structure's wards as housing prisoners convicted on fraud and theft cases not those held on political charges. However, the Iran Prison Atlas has said that wards have changed over the years.

The reformist newspaper Etemad on Monday quoted Mostafa Nili, a lawyer for some political prisoners at Evin, as identifying one of the affected areas as Ward 8. He described those imprisoned there as political prisoners and others convicted on financial charges.

Earlier Monday, Iran's judiciary raised the death toll from the blaze to eight, after initially reporting four deaths over the weekend.

Authorities have blamed "rioters" for setting the blaze, though they haven't described what measures they took against the prisoners on site. Video of the fire purports to show people on the roof of the building, tossing liquid on the flames at first. Apparent gunfire echoes through other videos, including what appears to be some sort of ordinance being lobbed into the prison complex, followed by the sound of an explosion.

As the fire grew larger, one video includes voices shouting: "Death to the dictator!" That cry against Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has become common at night in Tehran amid the protests, even though it carries the risk of a death sentence in a closed-door Revolutionary Court.

Evin Prison, in northern Tehran abutting the foothills of the Alborz Mountains, first opened under Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1972. Iran's theocracy took over the facility after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Khamenei, operates its own prison cells at the complex, as does Iran's Intelligence Ministry, which reports to the country's presidency.

The Guard typically holds dual nationals and those with ties to the West there prisoners often used in swaps with the West. Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post journalist detained by Iran on flimsy spying allegations for 544 days was held there before being freed as Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers took effect.

"Evin is no ordinary prison," Rezaian wrote on Twitter, sharing videos of the fire this weekend. "Many of Iran's best & brightest have spent long stretches confined there, where brave women & men are denied their basic rights for speaking truth to power."

EU slaps sanctions on Iran, warn of more

The wider protests now rocking Iran erupted after public outrage over the death of 22-year-old Amini in police custody. She was arrested by Iran's morality police in Tehran for violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code. Iran's government insists Amini was not mistreated in police custody, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating after she was detained.

WATCH | Protests could spark change, analysts say:

Protests over Mahsa Amini's death threaten Iranian regime

2 years ago

Duration 3:09

The mass demonstrations over Mahsa Amini's death in Iranian police custody could create lasting change, say analysts.

So far, human rights groups estimate that over 200 people have been killed in the protests and the violent security force crackdown that followed. Iran has not offered a death toll in weeks. Demonstrations have been seen in over 100 cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Thousands are believed to have been arrested.

The European Union on Monday slapped sanctions on 11 Iranian officials and four Iranian entities, including Iran's morality police chief, over their suspected role in the crackdown against the protests, imposing travel bans and freezing assets.

Meanwhile, several EU foreign ministers called for a separate set of sanctions against Iran over the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia.

Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks with Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks, and on Monday Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with drones, killing at least four people in an apartment building in downtown Kyiv during morning rush hour.

Ukraine said the attacks were carried out by Iran-made "suicide drones" and said Tehran was responsible for the "murders of Ukrainians."

Iran denies supplying drones to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has not commented.