Israel attacked Iran’s infamous Evin prison and destroyed sections of the facility, where numerous political prisoners are held, Iran’s judiciary reports.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency said the incident was “under control” after the assault, which it described as a breach of international law. State television footage showed medics wheeling a casualty out on a stretcher and combing the rubble under a crushed building for survivors.
Israel’s defence minister stated that it struck “regime targets and agencies of government repression” in Tehran, including Evin. The foreign minister of France stated that the bombing of the prison was “unacceptable” because it put the lives of two of its citizens there at risk.
The Israeli army also reported on Monday that it had targeted entry points to the Fordo uranium enrichment facility, south of the capital. It followed one day after US planes had dropped “bunker-busting” bombs on the buried facility.
Iranian ballistic missiles also hit several sites around Israel, an industrial zone in the coastal city of Ashdod, near a power station. Ten days ago, Israel initiated an air strike campaign against Iran, stating that it was meant to eliminate what it referred to as the “existential threats” of the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Iran’s health ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed approximately 500 individuals to date, although one human rights organization estimated the death toll at 950. Iranian missile attacks on Israeli cities have resulted in 24 fatalities, Israeli authorities report.
There are thousands of men and women held in the Evin prison, who are well-known political opponents, human rights activists, journalists, and foreign and dual nationals. Locals in the heavily populated neighbourhood said that there was a significant blast on Monday that broke the windows of the houses in the neighbourhood.
One confirmed video was of wrecked cars and trash strewn about a street, and another of major destruction of the Shahid Moghaddas Prosecutor’s Office, a specialized security unit within the prison compound.
It is unknown how many were injured, and if any civilians were among them. Still, the prosecutor’s office is typically crowded on working days with inmates’ families, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges.
Images seen by BBC Persian were described to depict wounded individuals who had been going to see imprisoned relatives during the strike. Prisoners in Evin’s female wing reportedly informed their families that the ceiling collapsed and there was panic among the prisoners, but no injuries.
But in Section 4, the blast’s shockwave was reported to have injured several men within the prison library. Targeting civilian objects knowingly is banned under international humanitarian law and would constitute a war crime,” the human rights group warned.
Jean-Noel Barrot, France’s foreign minister, also called the strike “unacceptable”, stating that it had put two French nationals “in hostage” at the jail on spying accusations. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian national who spent years in prison at Evin, said she was “sick” with worry after the strike.
“When you are in prison, it becomes your home. When I heard this morning that Evin prison was bombed, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. When I was released, I left a piece of my heart there. She said she had made “the most incredible friendships” with fellow inmates.
She continued: “To me, believing in that these individuals who are trapped behind bars are afraid, traumatized, concerned for themselves, but also for the individuals outside – who likely have no idea what they are experiencing – makes me sick.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the Israeli army hit “regime targets and oppressive authorities in central Tehran with unprecedented force” on Monday.
