It is among Iran’s most infamous and hidden locations. A location where international journalists are prohibited from visiting or filming. Some Iranian government opponents and dissidents never return from the jail where they are imprisoned.
However, we visited there today at the invitation of Iranian officials who were keen to see the harm Israel had caused.
Israeli aircraft struck Evin Prison the day before a truce concluded a 12-day conflict with Iran. The damage is far more extensive than was initially believed.
Only a few international press outlets were permitted entry, and we passed past the remains of its gates, which are now a pile of debris and twisted metal.
We were shown a structure a few hundred yards in that Iranians claim is the prison’s medical facility.
All the windows of the building had been blasted in behind iron bars. Hospital beds and medical equipment have been torn to shreds.
Being somewhere that is often closed off to the outer world seemed unsettling.
The buildings where prisoners are held in supposedly appalling circumstances, the menacing watch towers silhouetted against the sky, and the buildings on the hill above us, unaffected by the airstrikes.
Evin felt abandoned and dilapidated. As we explored the facility, the atmosphere had an indescribable sense of melancholy and oppression.
The Iranians brought us here for a reason. According to the government, the airstrikes killed at least 71 individuals, including visiting relatives and some prisoners.
However, the press tour also brought attention to the prison’s reputation.
Human rights organizations and Iran’s detractors claim that Evin is linked to the country’s practice of hostage diplomacy as well as the ruthless persecution of political detainees and opponents.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other British dual nationals were detained here for years before being freed in 2022 in return for UK concessions.
