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25-06-2025
JERUSALEM/ TEHRAN: Israel has struck Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and damaged parts of the facility, which holds many political detainees, Iran’s judiciary says.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that the situation was “under control” following the attack, which it said violated international law. State TV footage showed first responders carrying a casualty on a stretcher and searching for survivors under a flattened building.
Israel’s defence minister said it hit “regime targets and agencies of government repression” across Tehran, including Evin.
France’s foreign minister said the strike on the prison was “unacceptable” because it endangered the lives of two of its citizens held there.
The Israeli military also said on Monday that it had struck access routes to the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, which is south of the capital. It came a day after US aircraft dropped “bunker-busting” bombs on the underground facility.
Iranian ballistic missiles meanwhile struck various locations across Israel, including an industrial area in the coastal city of Ashdod, close to a power station.
Ten days ago, Israel launched an air campaign against Iran, saying it aimed to remove what it called the “existential threats” of the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Iran’s health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed around 500 people so far, although one human rights group has put the death toll at 950.
Iranian missile strikes on Israeli cities have killed 24 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Evin prison houses thousands of men and women, including prominent political dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, and dual and foreign nationals.
Residents of the densely populated surrounding area told media that there was a powerful explosion on Monday that shattered the windows of nearby homes.
One verified video showed damaged vehicles and debris scattered across a street, while another showed significant damage to the Shahid Moghaddas Prosecutor’s Office, a special security branch located inside the prison complex.
It is not clear how many casualties there were, and whether civilians were among them.
However, the prosecutor’s office is usually filled during working hours with inmates’ relatives, lawyers, as well prosecutors and judges.
Images reviewed by media were said to show injured people who had been visiting imprisoned relatives at the time of the strike.
Inmates at Evin’s women’s section reportedly told their families that the ceiling was damaged and that panic broke out among prisoners, although they did not report any injuries.
However, in Section 4, the shockwave from the explosion was said to have caused injuries to several men who were inside the prison library.
Amnesty International said it was “extremely distressed” by the reports from Evin.
“Deliberately attacking civilian objects is prohibited under international humanitarian law and would amount to a war crime,” the human rights group warned.
Jean-Noel Barrot, France’s foreign minister, also condemned the strike as “unacceptable”, saying it had endangered two French nationals “held hostage” at the prison on spying charges.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who was imprisoned for years at Evin, told media she felt “sick” with concern following the strike. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
