Iranian prisoners feared injected with unknown substances, opposition-linked site says

Iranian detainees are being injected with unknown substances, leading to a “growing pattern of deaths among current and former prisoners,” an opposition-linked site reports, citing eyewitness testimony and human rights activists.

According to the report in Iran International, those detained following the recent mass anti-regime protests are not being allowed medical care and are receiving unknown shots, in some cases reportedly leading to serious medical damage.

“One massacre happened on the street,” Shiva Mahbobi, spokesperson for the UK-based Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran, tells Iran International. “Another may be happening quietly in prisons and detention centers.”

The report comes after thousands were killed in the anti-regime protests, which began in December as demonstrations over a deteriorating economic situation. The Iranian government has said more than 3,000 people were killed.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it has confirmed 6,842 deaths, mostly protesters killed by security forces, though rights groups warn that the figure is likely far higher.

The Iran International report cites one case, described by an unnamed source, in which a 16-year-old girl was detained and entered a coma after receiving an injection. In another case described by Mahbobi, a young woman died the day after being released from detention.

“We don’t know what they are injecting,” Mahbobi tells the site. “What we know is that people are being injected in custody, and some of them are dying.”

AFP contributed to this report.