Beirut, Jun 30 (AP) - Sayeh Seydal, a prominent Iranian dissident, narrowly avoided death when Israeli missiles struck Tehran's Evin Prison, where she was incarcerated. She had just exited the prison's clinic moments before it was destroyed by the attack. The June 23 strikes on Iran's notorious prison for political dissidents resulted in at least 71 casualties, including staff, soldiers, visiting family members, and nearby residents, according to Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir on Sunday.
In the chaos that ensued, authorities relocated Seydal and other inmates to prisons outside Tehran, which are notorious for their overcrowded and harsh conditions. Seydal recently managed to call her family, pleading for help and describing the conditions as "a slow death." She remarked on the irony that the bombing by the US and Israel hadn't killed them, yet the Islamic Republic moved them to places that could lead to their demise.
Activists express fear that Israel’s attacks will lead to a crackdown, as Iran's pro-democracy and human rights activists worry they will bear the consequences of Israel's 12-day air campaign targeting the country's nuclear program. They assert that the state, still reeling from a security breach, has already intensified its crackdown on dissidents.
The Israeli strike on Evin, aimed at "repressive authorities," sparked panic among the families of political prisoners, who scrambled to ascertain their loved ones' fates. Even a week later, families of those in solitary confinement or undergoing interrogation remain in the dark.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, an experienced activist imprisoned in Evin multiple times, noted the need for powerful tools to support civil society and the women's movement to achieve democracy. Unfortunately, she pointed out, war weakens these tools, with political space shrinking as security forces increase their street presence in Tehran.
A potential wave of executions now looms, with many fearing a repeat of 1988, when, after the Iran-Iraq war, authorities executed at least 5,000 political prisoners post perfunctory trials, burying them in inaccessible mass graves. Already, during Israel's campaign, Iran executed six prisoners sentenced to death before the conflict.
The Washington-based Human Rights Activists in Iran documented nearly 1,300 arrests, primarily on espionage charges, with 300 accused of sharing content on social media over just 12 days. Parliament is expediting a bill to enable broader use of the death penalty for collaboration with foreign adversaries. The judiciary chief has called for expedited proceedings against those who "disrupt the peace" or "collaborate" with Israel. Bahar Ghandehari, director of advocacy and media at the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, interpreted this as a prelude to show trials and executions.
Following the strike, prisoners from Evin were dispersed. The facility, in an upscale neighborhood on Tehran's northern edge, housed an estimated 120 men and women in its general wards, along with many others reportedly held in secretive security units, undergoing interrogation or in solitary confinement.
The prison held protesters, lawyers, and activists opposed to Iran’s authoritarian rule, corruption, and religious laws, including the enforcement of Islamic attire on women. Authorities have harshly suppressed waves of nationwide protests since 2009, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands jailed.
The strikes hit Evin during visiting hours, sparking shock and panic. Seydal, an international law scholar active in protest movements for two decades, recounted her narrow escape from death in the prison clinic to her family via a relative who shared the story anonymously, fearing retaliation.
The visiting halls, prosecutor's office, and several prisoner wards sustained heavy damage, according to rights groups and prisoners' relatives. One missile struck the prison entrance, where prisoners often sit while waiting for transfers to hospitals or court. "Attacking a prison where inmates are trapped behind closed doors, unable to act to save themselves, can never be a legitimate target," Mohammadi stated. Mohammadi was released in December when her sentence was briefly suspended for medical reasons.
Buses began transferring prisoners to other facilities during the night, according to Mohammadi and prisoners' families. At least 65 women, including Seydal, were relocated to Qarchak Prison. Men were sent to the Grand Tehran Penitentiary, housing criminals and high-security inmates, both located south of Tehran.
Seydal described conditions at Qarchak as a "hellhole" in a call home, where women were cramped in isolation with poor hygiene and limited food or drinkable water. "It stinks. Just pure filth," she stated. Despite the risks, Seydal has chosen to speak out, believing silence could be equally perilous. She recently returned to Evin to collect her belongings, describing the smell of death pervading the air.
The 47-year-old Seydal was first sentenced in 2023. In early 2025, her furlough was revoked, and she faced assault and new charges for refusing to wear a chador at the prosecutor's office.
The family of Reza Younesi is grappling with the disappearance of his brother Ali, who has been imprisoned at Evin for years. Ali, a 25-year-old graduate from a prestigious technical university, was serving a 16-year sentence for "colluding to commit crimes against national security," a sentence criticized by rights groups. Days before the Evin strike, Ali was taken from his ward to an unknown location, leaving the family in terror.
Disappearances are not uncommon in Evin, with guards often removing political prisoners from their wards for interrogation. In some cases, these prisoners face secret trials and execution. After the strikes, Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, sentenced to death in 2017, was moved from Evin to an undisclosed location, raising fears of his execution as expressed by Amnesty International.
Reza Younesi, speaking from Sweden where he is an associate professor at Uppsala University, noted the family lawyer couldn't obtain information on his brother or new charges. "We are all worried," he said. "When there is no information from a prisoner, this almost always means that the person is undergoing interrogation and torture."
Meanwhile, Mehraveh Khandan, having grown up in a family of political activists, is anxiously seeking information about her father, Reza Khandan, imprisoned in Evin for opposing mandatory headscarves for women. Now living in Amsterdam, the 25-year-old struggled for news following the strike, eventually discovering her father was sleeping on a crowded cell floor at the Grand Tehran Penitentiary.
Initially hopeful that the Evin strike might catalyze prisoner releases, she is now disheartened by reports of increased detentions and executions. "All this hope is gone," she lamented. The war, she concluded, has devastated the progress activists were painstakingly building.
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