Tehran: It was 30pm in Tehran on Monday when reports emerged of an explosion at Evin Prison, located 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 France24.com, the video posted on social media by Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, on June 23, 2025, shows an Israeli airstrike the same day on the main gate of Tehran’s Evin Prison, in the southwestern part of the compound. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz labelled Monday's attack as part of a wave of strikes targeting key components of the Iranian regime, including internal repression facilities in the heart of the capital.
Evin Prison, in addition to housing common criminals, is also home to many political prisoners, including Narges Mohammad, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, as well as foreign detainees. Abolfazl Ghadyani, a critic of the Islamic regime incarcerated in Evin, described the aftermath in a phone call with his son, stating that all the windows were shattered and the prison hospital was partially damaged. Ahmad Ghadyani, his son, questioned the rationale of keeping political prisoners in such conditions.
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 reported that Israeli jets 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.
The strikes on Evin Prison and Iranian security facilities occurred hours after US President Donald Trump suggested regime change in Iran. In a social media post, Trump remarked on the possibility of regime change if the current Iranian regime could not improve the country, coining the phrase "MIGA" or "Make Iran Great Again."
