The Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported that a delegation of 36 ambassadors, diplomats and representatives from 28 countries and international organizations visited the Qarchak women’s prison in the south of the capital, on Wednesday.
The visit comes a month after the sudden transfer of female prisoners on political charges to other prisons.
Accompanied by a number of Iranian judicial officials and Kazem Gharibabadi Secretary General of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, the envoys made a tour of the prison which lasted three hours.
Gharibabadi said the women’s penitentiary was chosen to enable the foreign diplomats to see the unique and diverse services and facilities for female prisoners and get a correct understanding of the principles of prisons.
In recent months, women’s rights activists have called for the closure of Qarchak prison, which is described as the largest prison for women in Iran. There is no official data on the number of female prisoners in Iran, especially after the recent arrest campaign launched by the authorities against participants in the protests that have swept the country following the death of Mahsa Amini.
The agency did not reveal the names of the countries and international organizations whose members visited the controversial prison.
The announcement of the visit comes days after the first trial of the two journalists, Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, following their coverage of the case of Mahsa Amini.
The two women are tried on charges of “conspiracy and rebellion against national security” and “anti-state propaganda”.
The US State Department had said that Iran’s “sham” trial of Hamedi and Mohammadi, was a “mockery of justice” and shows Iran’s fear of journalists.
The US State Department also pledged to continue supporting freedom of expression and the press in Iran. The statement called on the Iranian authorities to release hundreds of political prisoners and dozens of journalists from Iranian prisons.
