TEHRAN
\nThe death toll from a fire at Iran\u2019s notorious Evin prison has risen from four to eight, Iran\u2019s judiciary has said in a statement.
\nOfficials said dozens more were injured in the blaze at the jail in Tehran on Saturday night.
\nHundreds of those taking part in anti-government protests which have swept the country for the past month have been sent to Evin prison.
\nIt is not clear whether the incident at the jail was connected to the unrest.
\nThe judiciary said the fire began in a prison workshop after a fight among inmates. State TV said it was a \u201cpremeditated\u201d escape plan, which the head of prisons in Tehran said was foiled by the security forces.
\nHowever, a witness inside the prison told BBC Persian that prisoners had not set fire to the site.
\nMeanwhile, protests continued overnight, including in neighbourhoods of Tehran.
\nIn video from the north-east district of Narmak, chants of \u201cDeath to the dictator\u201d – a reference to Iran\u2019s supreme leader – among others can be heard in the dark.
\nElsewhere, in Ekbatan in western Tehran, a crowd of protesters chanted anti-government slogans, while video showed a group cheering as a woman burnt her hijab on a bonfire lit by protesters.
\nThe protests erupted one month ago in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini in police custody. Officials said she died of a heart attack, but her family dispute this, saying she was beaten by morality police.
\nThe demonstrations quickly spread across the country, mounting the most serious challenge to the Islamic Republic since its inception in 1979.
\nIranian security forces have used force including live fire, beatings and mass arrests to try to put down the protests. Human rights groups say at least 200 people have been killed, though the true figure is believed to be much higher.
\nThe BBC and other independent media are banned from reporting from inside Iran, while authorities have disrupted the internet and social media tools, making it difficult to know outside what is happening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEHRAN The death toll from a fire at Iran\u2019s notorious Evin prison has risen from four to eight, Iran\u2019s judiciary has said in a statement. Officials said dozens more were injured in the blaze at the jail in Tehran on Saturday night. Hundreds of those taking part in anti-government protests which have swept the country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-289933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n