DUBAI: Eight prisoners died as a result of a fire at Tehran’s Evin prison over the weekend, Iran’s judiciary said on Monday, doubling the death toll from the blaze which has increased pressure on a government struggling to contain mass protests.
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 while in police custody has sparked protests across the country which the authorities have been trying to put down by force.
Iran’s judiciary said all the victims of the prison blaze had been held in a section of the prison designated for prisoners of robbery-related crimes. Evin also holds political prisoners and many detainees facing security charges, including Iranians with dual nationality.
Authorities said that a prison workshop had been set on fire “after a fight among a number of prisoners convicted of financial crimes and theft.” State media reported on Sunday that the first four deaths had been caused by smoke inhalation and that more than 60 had been injured, four of them critically.
In a commentary, state newspaper Iran said that counter-revolutionary forces with the help of foreign intelligence services planned the fire in order to keep international attention on the country’s unrest.
“A review of its different dimensions of this event indicates due to the presence of these dual-national “spies” or “spies” who are citizens of western countries, this would attract sensitivity of those countries, igniting the protesters,” said the newspaper.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the fire at Evin could happen in any country.
US President Joe Biden and the European Union are among those to have criticized Tehran’s crackdown on protesters, with the EU considering to impose asset freezes and travel bans on a number of Iranian officials involved.
The judiciary spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi warned that “Spreading lies with the intention of disturbing public opinion is punishable by law.”
Families of some political detainees took to social media to call on the authorities to ensure their safety at Evin, which in 2018 was blacklisted by the US government for “serious human rights abuses.”
The protests sparked by Amini’s death a month ago have turned into one of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical rulers since the 1979 revolution, with protesters calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling the system.
Protests resumed early on Monday in Yazd and several other cities. The widely followed activist Tasvir1500 Twitter account carried a video showing people setting fire in the streets and calling for the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Reuters could not independently verify the videos. Iran has deployed the Basij militia, voluntary military troops which have been at the forefront of repressing popular unrest, but they have failed to contain the protests.
The elite Revolutionary Guards, who have not taken part in the crackdown, began military exercises on Monday.
Rights groups said at least 240 protesters had been killed, including 32 minors. Over 8,000 people had been arrested in 111 cities and towns, Iranian activist news agency HRANA said on Saturday. The authorities have not published a death toll.
Iran, which has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, denies security forces have killed protesters. State media said on Saturday at least 26 members of the security forces had been killed by “rioters.”
Iran prison fire death toll rises to 8 inmates killed
https://arab.news/bw2pp
Iran prison fire death toll rises to 8 inmates killed
- State media reported that the blaze was extinguished after several hours and no detainees escaped
- Rights groups said at least 240 protesters had been killed, including 32 minors
Syria asks Lebanon to hand over Assad-era officers after Reuters report
- Among the names handed over by Syrian officials to Lebanon were several high-ranking figures acting as intermediaries for Makhlouf or Hassan in Lebanon
DUBAI: Syrian authorities have asked Lebanese security forces to hand over more than 200 senior officers who fled to Lebanon after the fall of Bashar Assad, following a Reuters investigation that showed how the neighboring country was a hub for insurgent plotting.
On Dec. 18, a top Syrian security official, Brig. Abdul Rahman Al-Dabbagh, met with his Lebanese counterparts in Beirut to discuss the exiled Assad-era officers, according to three senior Syrian sources, two Lebanese security officials, and a diplomat with knowledge of the visit.
The meetings came days after a Reuters investigation detailed rival plots being pursued by Rami Makhlouf, the billionaire cousin of the ousted president, and Maj. Gen. Kamal Hassan, former head of military intelligence, both living in exile in Moscow, to finance potential Alawite militant groups in Lebanon and along the Syrian coast. Syria and Lebanon share a 375-kilometer border.
The two rival camps aim to undermine the new Syrian government under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa. Reuters found they are sending money to intermediaries in Lebanon to try and stir uprisings that would divide Syria and allow the plotters to regain control over the coastal areas. The population of those areas is dominated by Alawites, the minority sect associated with the Assad family and the dictatorship’s ruling elite.
Al-Dabbagh, an aide to the head of internal security in Syria’s Latakia province, an Alawite stronghold, met with Lebanese intelligence chief Tony Kahwaji and Major General Hassan Choucair, head of the General Security Directorate, and presented them with the list of senior officers wanted by Syria.
The visit focused on gathering information about the whereabouts and legal status of the officers, as well as trying to find ways to prosecute or extradite them to Syria, according to the Syrian sources.
They described it as a direct request from one security agency to another, rather than a demand for extradition.
Three senior Lebanese security officials confirmed the meetings. One of the Lebanese officials denied receiving any demands from the Syrians to hand over the officers. Two others acknowledged receiving a list of names but said none were senior officers.
One of the Lebanese security officials said there is no evidence of any insurgency being planned, despite the threats against Syria’s new government detailed in the Reuters reporting.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of a highly sensitive cross-border issue.
Among the names handed over by Syrian officials to Lebanon were several high-ranking figures acting as intermediaries for Makhlouf or Hassan in Lebanon, according to a Syrian source who saw the list.
A Lebanese judicial official said Syria had not made a formal extradition request to Lebanon, typically done through the two countries’ justice and foreign ministries.
Accompanying Dabbagh on his Beirut visit was Khaled Al-Ahmad, a former Assad adviser and childhood friend of Sharaa, who is leading the government’s efforts to win over the Alawite community through development projects
and aid, according to two witnesses who saw the men together on that mid-December day.
According to the two witnesses, who are both ex-Assad officers, Al-Ahmad and Dabbagh went together to Azmi, an upscale Beirut restaurant that is popular among Assad’s men. The two witnesses said they and others interpreted the outing as a warning to those trying to influence Alawites to rise up against Syria’s new leaders that Lebanon is no longer a haven.
A manager at Azmi declined to comment on the visit.
In a Jan. 2 post on X, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri called on his government’s security agencies to verify the information circulating in the media and take action against the Lebanon-based agents for Assad’s former insiders, Makhlouf and Hassan.
“It is incumbent upon them, and upon all of us, to avert the dangers of any actions that undermine Syria’s unity or threaten its security and stability, whether in Lebanon or originating from it,” the tweet read.
In response to questions from Reuters, Lebanon’s General Security referred to Jan. 11 remarks by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who said Lebanon’s military intelligence and other security agencies had carried out raids in several areas of the country’s north and east. Aoun said the raids did not produce evidence of the presence of officers linked to the Assad dictatorship and said Lebanon was continuing to coordinate with Syria on the issue.
Syrian government officials did not respond to requests for comment.
From Jan. 3 to Jan. 6, Lebanese soldiers raided locations and shelters housing displaced Syrians. The Lebanese Army said 38 Syrians were arrested during the raids on different charges such as possession of drugs or weapons, or entering the country illegally.
A senior Lebanese security official told Reuters those raids were linked to the exiles’ plots.
Another senior Lebanese security official emphasized that there was no arrest warrant for the Syrian officers in Lebanon, nor Interpol requests for them.
“We can’t do anything against them,” the official added.
