Inside Iran's notorious Evin Prison - as Tehran says damage shows Israel targeted civilians
Somewhere foreign journalists are never allowed to visit or film. The prison where dissidents and critics of Iran's government disappear - some never to be seen again.
But we went there today, invited by Iranian authorities eager to show the damage done there by Israel.
Evin Prison was hit by Israeli airstrikes the day before a ceasefire ended a 12-day war with . The damage is much greater than thought at the time.
We walked through what's left of its gates, now a mass of rubble and twisted metal, among just a handful of foreign news media allowed in.
A few hundred yards in, we were shown a building Iranians say was the prison's hospital.
Behind iron bars, every one of the building's windows had been blown in. Medical equipment and hospital beds had been ripped apart and shredded.
It felt eerie being somewhere normally shut off to the outside world.
On the hill above us, untouched by the airstrikes, the buildings where inmates are incarcerated in reportedly horrific conditions, ominous watch towers silhouetted against the sky.
Evin felt rundown and neglected. There was something ineffably sad and oppressive about the atmosphere as we wandered through the compound.
The Iranians had their reasons to bring us here. The authorities say at least 71 people were killed in the air strikes, some of them inmates, but also visiting family members.
Iran says this is evidence that Israel was not just targeting military or nuclear sites but civilian locations too.
But the press visit highlighted the prison's notoriety too.
Iran's critics and human rights groups say Evin is synonymous with the brutal oppression of political prisoners and opponents, and its practice of hostage diplomacy too.
British dual nationals, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe were held here for years before being released in 2022 in exchange for concessions from the UK.
Read more:
Interviewed about the Israeli airstrikes at the time, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe showed only characteristic empathy with her former fellow inmates. Trapped in their cells, she said they must have been terrified.
The Israelis have not fully explained why they put Evin on their target list, but on the same day, the Israeli military said it was "attacking regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran".
The locus of their strikes were the prison's two entrances. If they were trying to enable a jailbreak, they failed. No one is reported to have escaped, several inmates are thought to have died.
The breaches the Israeli missiles made in the jail's perimeter are being closed again quickly. We filmed as a team of masons worked to shut off the outside world again, brick by brick.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hamas says it has given a 'positive' response to the latest ceasefire proposal in Gaza
DEIR al-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas said Friday it has given a 'positive' response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza but said further talks were needed on implementation. It was not clear if Hamas' statement meant it had accepted the proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump for a 60-day ceasefire. Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war, now nearly 21 months old. Donald Trump has been pushing hard for a deal to be reached, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to visit the White House next week to discuss a deal. The Hamas statement came as Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza early Friday, while a hospital said another 20 people died in shootings while seeking aid. The U.N. human rights office said it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within the span of a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid. Most were killed while trying to reach food distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization, while others were massed waiting for aid trucks connected to the United Nations or other humanitarian organizations, it said. Efforts ongoing to halt the war Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, during which the U.S. would "work with all parties to end the war.' He urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. In its statement late Friday, Hamas said it 'has submitted its positive response' to Egyptian and Qatari mediators. It said it is 'fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework.' It did not elaborate on what needed to be worked out in implementation. A Hamas official said the ceasefire could start as early as next week but he said talks were needed first to work out how many Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for each freed Israeli hostage and to specify the amount of aid that will enter Gaza during the truce. Hamas has said it wants aid to flow in greater quantities through the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the response with the press. The official also said that negotiations would start from the first day of the truce on a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in return for the release of remaining hostages. He said that Trump has guaranteed that the truce will be extended beyond 60 days if needed for those negotiations to reach a deal. There has been no confirmation from the United States of such a guarantee. Previous rounds of negotiations have run aground over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the destruction of the militant group. 'We'll see what happens. We're going to know over the next 24 hours,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Thursday when asked if Hamas had agreed to the latest framework for a ceasefire. 20 killed Friday while seeking aid Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least three Palestinians were killed Friday while on the roads heading to food distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Since GHF began distributions in late May, witnesses have said almost daily that Israeli troops open fire toward crowds of Palestinians on the roads leading to the food centers. To reach the sites, people must walk several kilometers (miles) through an Israeli military zone where troops control the road. The Israeli military has said previously it fires warning shots to control crowds or at Palestinians who approach its troops. The GHF has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside their immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel's military. On Friday, in reaction to the U.N. rights agency's report, it said in a statement that it was investigating reports of people killed and wounded while seeking aid. It said it was working at 'minimizing possible friction between the population' and Israeli forces, including by installing fences and placing signs on the routes. Separately, witnesses have said Israeli troops open fire toward crowds of Palestinians who gather in military-controlled zones to wait for aid trucks entering Gaza for the U.N. or other aid organizations not associated with GHF. On Friday, 17 people were killed waiting for trucks in eastern Khan Younis in the Tahliya area, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Three survivors told the AP they had gone to wait for the trucks in a military 'red zone' in Khan Younis and that troops opened fire from a tank and drones. It was a 'crowd of people, may God help them, who want to eat and live,' said Seddiq Abu Farhana, who was shot in the leg, forcing him to drop a bag of flour he had grabbed. 'There was direct firing.' Airstrikes also hit the Muwasi area on the southern end of Gaza's Mediterranean coast, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes are sheltering in tent camps. Of the 15 people killed in the strikes, eight were women and one was a child, according to the hospital. Israel's military said it was looking into Friday's reported airstrikes. It had no immediate comment on the reported shootings surrounding the aid trucks. U.N. investigates shootings near aid sites The spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, said the agency was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said 'it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points' operated by GHF. In a message to The Associated Press, Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were 'GHF-related,' meaning at or near its distribution sites. In a statement Friday, GHF cast doubt on the casualty figures, accusing the U.N. of taking its casualty figures 'directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry'and of trying 'to falsely smear our effort.' Shamdasani, the U.N. rights office spokesperson, told the AP that the data 'is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical, human rights and humanitarian organizations.' Rik Peeperkorn, representative of the World Health Organization, said Nasser Hospital, the biggest hospital operating in the south, receives dozens or hundreds of casualties every day, most coming from the vicinity of the food distribution sites. The International Committee of the Red Cross also said in late June that its field hospital near one of the GHF sites has been overwhelmed more than 20 times in the previous months by mass casualties, most suffering gunshot injuries while on their way to the food distribution sites. Also on Friday, Israel's military said two soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza, one in the north and one in the south. Over 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. The Israeli military also issued new evacuation orders Friday in northeast Khan Younis in southern Gaza and urged Palestinians to move west ahead of planned military operations against Hamas in the area. The new evacuation zones pushed Palestinians into increasingly smaller spaces by the coast. The Health Ministry in Gaza said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has passed 57,000. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is run by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government, and its numbers are widely cited by the U.N. and international organizations. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. ___ Kullab reported from Jerusalem and Mroue from Beirut. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration can deport Djibouti detainees to South Sudan after judge denies emergency bid to block flight
The Trump administration will be able to send eight migrants held in Djibouti for weeks to South Sudan, where they fear they will face violence, after a flurry of court activity on Friday. A federal judge in Massachusetts denied an emergency request Friday evening from the migrants' lawyers to block their deportation to the country, where they said their clients could face torture. In a brief order, United States District Judge Brian E. Murphy wrote that he interpreted a Supreme Court decision delivered a day earlier allowing the deportation to South Sudan to move forward as 'binding' on the request, which he said raised 'substantially similar claims.' The nation's highest court on Thursday had ruled in the Trump administration's favor and cleared the way to remove the eight migrants to South Sudan. Earlier Friday, the migrants were handed a brief reprieve from a federal judge in DC that kept the migrants on the ground in Djibouti, while their lawyers transferred their case to Massachusetts federal court, where earlier procedures around the group had been held. Now that Murphy has denied the emergency petition, the flight from Djibouti to South Sudan could take off around 7 p.m. ET. 'Today, law and order prevails,' Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on X following the decision. CNN has reached out to DHS to confirm the status of the flight. The detainees' lawyers had argued they will face torture if they are sent to South Sudan by the US, and say they will be deprived of their constitutional rights. They said the Trump administration is trying to unfairly hurt them with the deportation, which they cast in court filings as 'punitive banishment' and 'severe punishment' and warn the detainees could be put at risk of being 'arbitrarily imprisoned, tortured, killed or severely harmed' if they are released in South Sudan. Judge Randolph Moss in the DC District Court heard arguments in a pair of emergency hearings Friday afternoon before saying the case should be moved to Massachusetts. 'It seems self-evident the US government can't take human beings and send them to a place where their physical well-being is at risk,' such as in South Sudan, either to punish them or to warn other possible migrants to the US of the consequences of illegal immigration, Moss said. He ordered the Trump administration not to move the migrants until 4:30 p.m. ET and told the migrants' lawyers they must move fast to try to get a judge to intervene in Massachusetts. The detainees' lawyers filed their new claims just after 4 p.m. in Massachusetts' federal district court. Attorneys for the migrants said sending them to war-torn South Sudan would be further punishment than the sentences they've already served for crimes. A lawyer argued to Moss in court that the administration's actions in this situation are unprecedented and 'unlike anything that has ever been done by the US with deportations before.' The Justice Department, however, argued that the latest ask for relief should've been filed earlier, in a different type of claim and a different court than Moss'. 'They can't justify their claim-splitting,' said Justice Department attorney Hashim Mooppan. The Justice Department lawyer also expressed frustration to the court that the detainees' legal approach appears to be an attempt to 'drag … out' their being moved out of Djibouti, and said that the US diplomatic relations could be hurt by the multiple rounds of the court fight, as it negotiates with other countries to take migrants it seeks to deport. The eight detainees in Djibouti are from countries including Myanmar, Sudan, Mexico, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba, according to court filings, but the administration since springtime has moved fast to put detainees like them and others on planes and send them to other countries, often with a history of significant safety risks and brutality. The administration also revealed in court Friday additional details on the diplomatic correspondence between the United States and South Sudan, saying that upon arrival, the migrants would be granted an immigration status in accordance with South Sudan laws and immigration procedures, and that the US did not ask for them to be detained there. Moss said on Friday he believed the lawyers for the detainees were 'doing their best to protect the lives and well-being of human beings.' He also cited a stark travel warning from the State Department cautioning Americans headed to the country. 'It does appear placing people in South Sudan does pose significant risks to their physical safety,' Moss said. Still, Moss limited how much he intervened over the US' plans. The judge explained the very short stay he issued Friday afternoon by saying he didn't believe courts should issue administrative stays that last longer than is necessary. This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hamas hands 'positive' ceasefire response to Qatari mediators, prepared to start negotiations
An Israeli source also confirmed that Israel received the document submitted by the mediators and that it, as well as Hamas's response to the proposal, are being examined. Hamas handed a "positive" response to the ceasefire and hostage deal proposal to mediators on Friday evening, a Palestinian official familiar with the matter told Reuters. "We have handed the mediators, Qatar and Egypt, our response to the ceasefire proposal," a Hamas official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The response should help Hamas and Israel "facilitate reaching a deal," the official said. The terrorist organization later added that they "completed its internal consultations with Palestinian factions regarding the mediators' latest proposal to halt the aggression" and that they're "fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations" on the mediators' proposal for a ceasefire deal. According to Al-Arabiyya, Qatari mediators received a guarantee from the US that the war would not resume after a 60-day truce. Hamas demanded that Washington agree to be an official guarantor for a permanent end to the war, Al-Arabiyya added. This comes after Hamas confirmed early that morning that it was discussing the US-Qatar ceasefire proposal with other Palestinian factions. A Palestinian official of a terrorist group allied with Hamas said concerns remain over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals. An Israeli source also confirmed that Israel received the document submitted by the mediators and that it, as well as Hamas's response to the proposal, are being examined. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he is expecting to know whether Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal over the next 24 hours, Reuters reported. The proposal, presented by Qatar and based on the Witkoff framework, calls for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies during a 60-day ceasefire. During that period, the sides are expected to hold talks aimed at ending the war. Within the proposed deal, 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will also be released, Israel's Channel 14 reported. The proposed deal includes a schedule for the release of 10 live Israeli hostages in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to Israel's Channel 14. On Thursday, senior Hamas officials met in Turkey to discuss the proposed framework. In exchange for the hostages, Israel would release 125 Palestinian prisoners in addition to 1,111 Gazans that Israel had arrested after October 7. Reuters and Maariv Online contributed to this report.
