Iranian media reported Tuesday that 27 prisoners who escaped from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison after an Israeli strike during Operation Rising Lion remain at large. The prison is widely seen as a symbol of the ruling clerics’ brutality, with many inmates being regime opponents. A spokesperson for Iran’s judiciary said 75 prisoners fled the facility following the Israeli attack, adding that 48 were captured or returned voluntarily.
Security forces are searching for the rest. Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said authorities will imprison those who fail to surrender. He described the escapees as inmates serving time for minor offenses. Tuesday’s reports contradict Jahangir’s midmonth statement that a “non-significant number of prisoners” escaped under cover of the attack and were quickly recaptured.
Iranian officials initially said 71 people died in the strike. State media later reported the toll rose to 80, including guards, soldiers, prisoners and visiting family members. Authorities said five prisoners were killed. Evin Prison was built in 1971 under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who imprisoned political opponents there. It continued that role after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Israeli sources said after the attack: “We struck symbolic targets like Evin Prison to encourage the escape of regime-opponent prisoners. We took down all the prison’s entrances so they could escape, and we attacked seven headquarters throughout Tehran — the repression arm of the Revolutionary Guards. ”The strike drew condemnations, including from French President Emmanuel Macron, who said it was “not at all related to the objectives defined” by Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard intelligence unit issued a statement at noon warning against recruitment attempts by “hostile mechanisms” and foreign spy agencies. Since the war began, Iran has announced arrests of numerous espionage suspects and executed people accused of spying for Israel.