At least sixteen people including staff members at Tehran’s Evin Prison were killed on Monday after Israeli strikes hit the jail's buildings as well as other arms of the Islamic Republic’s security apparatus, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Among the dead were Vahid Heidarpour and Rouhollah Tavassoli, who oversaw wards 4, 7 and 8 at various times and were known for managing inmates accused in financial and political cases, sources said.
“They had a reputation for exploiting detainees linked to powerful networks,” a source familiar with the prison told Iran International.
The pair died in the prison’s administrative block, where they were present during the strike alongside the deputy health chief and several guards.
Some inmates were also injured by shattered glass and blast waves, though authorities have not confirmed any prisoner fatalities.
“I saw 16 prison employees in body bags being loaded into ambulances,” a witness inside the facility said. “They plan to move political detainees to Fashafuyeh or to Saheli prison in Qom. The death toll is high. No debris has been cleared yet. Many soldiers were also killed, and female staff are among the dead.”
Twenty buses transported Evin Prison inmates to Fashafuyeh prison on Monday, eyewitnesses told Iran International.
Detainees from Ward 209, who include recent protest arrestees, were moved out after the strike.
Prisoners from Ward 4 were relocated by bus to Fashafuyeh without their belongings, according to a second source who confirmed reports of gunfire inside the prison following the Israeli strike.
The families were being held back from the scene, which was taken over by Basij and plainclothes agents, the source added.
Damage was concentrated in the visitors’ hall, the infirmary, and the intelligence wing of the prison, where electricity is now limited to emergency supply and water has been cut off.
Call for prisoners' release
Families of political prisoners have repeatedly called for their release following the onset of Israeli airstrikes.
Reza Valizadeh, an American-Iranian journalist held at Evin, said in a message on June 16 that political prisoners had petitioned for conditional release, which is permitted under wartime laws passed in 1986.
The rules exclude so-called dangerous criminals but allow temporary release for others whose lives may be at risk during emergencies.
The Monday strikes, carried out under the direct orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, focused on “regime targets and government repression bodies,” according to the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Command centers of the Tharallah base, the Seyyed al-Shohada Corps, and the intelligence directorate of Iran’s police force were also struck in what Israeli officials called the most extensive operation of its kind.
