Families of inmates at Tehran’s Evin Prison are sharing distressing accounts following an Israeli airstrike that struck the facility on Monday, damaging various sections of the prison. Reports indicate that the strike, described by some as ‘symbolic,’ led the Iranian judiciary news agency to confirm that ‘parts of the prison have been damaged.’
A video released on Tuesday by the Iranian Tasnim News Agency displayed the destruction within the prison, while Fars News Agency reported that a doctor working at the prison clinic lost his life due to the attack. Known for housing political prisoners and those accused of national security offenses, Evin Prison has long been criticized for human rights violations, including allegations of torture and coerced confessions.
The exact number of inmates present during the strike remains unclear, as does the count of casualties among prisoners. Ahmad Ghadyani took to X to share a concerning message from his father, Abulfazl Ghadyani, a political prisoner at Evin. Abulfazl, 64, is charged with propaganda against the Iranian government. He reported, ‘My father called from Evin Prison. Evin Prison has been attacked and all the windows in the ward have been broken… Does the government really want to keep so many political prisoners, many of whom are sick, in prison? What kind of crime and stupidity is this?’
According to HRANA, a human rights NGO focused on Iran, communication within the prison has been severely restricted, with most wards experiencing complete phone outages. Additionally, all prisoner visits have been suspended indefinitely.
Samar Fatemi, a well-known Iranian journalist, expressed her outrage on her X account, stating, ‘Israel bombed Evin Prison!… A defenseless and confined prisoner who doesn’t have many facilities, what will happen to him now with this situation?’
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the targeting of Evin Prison, referring to it as a ‘symbol of oppression for the Iranian people.’ This strike was part of broader military actions initiated by Israel against Iran on June 12, which included attacks on multiple military sites, some linked to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israel justified its ‘preemptive’ actions by claiming that Iran was making significant progress toward developing nuclear weapons, a statement that Iran has firmly rejected.
In response to the strike, French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the attack on Evin Prison, asserting that it was unrelated to Israel’s stated goal of dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities and posed a risk to civilian lives.