Images and eyewitness accounts from Tehran's Evin Prison after an Israeli strike

France 24

5 days ago

It was around 1:30pm in Tehran on Monday when reports emerged of an explosion at Evin Prison, in the north of the Iranian capital.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar quickly posted video footage showing a prison door hit by a missile. The video was widely shared on social media, and while Saar did not specify the source of the video, other images from Tehran confirmed the strike.
According to Iranian media, the attack not only struck the prison's main entrance but also damaged a prosecutor's office and two courts within Evin, one known as 'Kachouyi' in the northern part of the complex and another known as 'Moghaddasi' in the southern part. The two courts are well-known for prosecuting protesters and dissidents, and the prison is notorious for imprisoning thousands of Iranians, including protesters from the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, university students, women activists, opposition figures, and artists. The explosions were so powerful that they reportedly shattered windows in sections 7 and 8 of the north wing of the prison.
The FRANCE 24 Observers team geolocated these two videos.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz labelled Monday's attack as part of an 'unprecedented wave of strikes targeting key components of the Iranian regime, including internal repression facilities in the heart of the capital'.
In addition to common criminals, Evin Prison is home to many political prisoners, including Narges Mohammad, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, as well as foreign detainees.
'All the windows are shattered'
Abolfazl Ghadyani, a prominent critic of the Islamic regime who is incarcerated in Evin, described the aftermath of the attack in a phone call with his son. "All the windows are shattered, and the prison hospital is partially damaged," Ghadyani's son said his father told him. Ahmad Ghadyani added: "Does the Islamic Republic intend to keep all these political prisoners in custody? Many of them are ill, what kind of madness and villainy is this?"
According to a former political prisoner with connections inside the prison, the women's ward of Evin Prison was severely damaged, but no prisoners in the ward were seriously injured.
In addition to the prison, Katz's office said that Israeli jets also targeted regime-affiliated installations in Tehran, including the Basij headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), internal security command centres, and the symbolic 'Countdown to Israel's Destruction' clock in Palestine Square, according to Ynet News.