TEHRAN – Iran’s Judiciary chief Gholam Hussein Mohseni Ejei said Monday a fire that broke out at Evin prison in Tehran on Saturday night was a “crime committed by a few agents of the enemy”.
He said the criminals started the fire at a workshop that provided employment for the inmates and helped their families.
In the incident, a hall was set ablaze which had been built to allow inmates to develop their skills and receive training on various vocations, he added.
“So the crime was designed to kill and injure a number of prisoners and leave their families in desperation.”
Mohseni Ejei said he had instructed the Prisons Organization of Iran to provide treatment for the inmates injured in the incident.
He had also ordered the related bodies to cooperate on identifying the main elements behind the fire and bringing them to justice.
“The perpetrators of this crime did the bidding of the Zionist, American and British centers for warmongering and creating chaos,” the judiciary chief said, adding U.S. and British news media and other anti-Iran outlets were acting like the “war room” at the night of the arson.
Eight prisoners died as a result of the fire over the weekend, Iran’s judiciary said on Monday, doubling the death toll from the blaze.