dpa
Tehran
The infamous Evin prison in Tehran is to be converted into a university building, the Iranian government said on Saturday.
"By converting a prison into an academic centre, we would send a good signal and a conciliatory message to the world community,” said Vice President Mohammed-Reza Aref, according to the ISNA news agency.
The prison, which has been notorious for decades as the site of serious human rights violations against political dissidents, is to become part of the medical faculty of the nearby Shahid Beheshti University.
Reformers in Iran
have been campaigning for the prison to be shuttered for
years, but hardliners in the country’s parliament and
judiciary have blocked the move.
The project is now to
be carried out under the
leadership of the moderate
new President Masoud
Pezeshkian.