Tehran prison chief flees after Israel contacts son before airstrikes
In a shocking turn of events, the notorious director of Tehran’s brutal Evin Prison, Hedayatollah Farzadi, managed to escape the compound ahead of Israeli strikes following threats to his life. The escape reportedly came after an alleged exchange between Israeli authorities and Farzadi’s adult son, Amir Husseini Farzadi.
According to a series of WhatsApp messages obtained by Fox News Digital from an Israeli intel source, an agent contacted Amir and instructed him to convince his father to release political prisoners in exchange for sparing his life. The agent warned that an attack on the prison was imminent and that Farzadi’s life could be saved if he opened the prison’s doors.
Amir was understandably concerned about his father’s safety and asked if anything had already happened to him. The Israeli agent reassured Amir that nothing had happened yet, but it was crucial for him to pass along the message to his father. Acting quickly, Amir contacted his uncle, who rushed to the prison to retrieve Farzadi. The two managed to escape the area just moments before the airstrikes began, and Farzadi has not been heard from since.
Farzadi, who has been the director of Evin Prison since 2022, has a dark history of human rights violations, including torture and murder of inmates, particularly political dissidents. He has been accused of beatings, starvation, sexual violence against female prisoners, and even murder. As a result, he has been sanctioned by both the U.S. and the European Union, prohibiting any dealings with him.
Prior to his tenure at Evin Prison, Farzadi worked at Dizel Abad Prison, where he was known for organizing public amputations of criminals convicted of petty crimes. He also oversaw the torture and maltreatment of inmates at the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, also known as Fashafouyeh Prison. These actions led to his designation under the Specially Designated Nationals list by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The European Union has also condemned the use of the judiciary as a tool for arbitrary detention in Iran, citing a dramatic increase in executions in 2024, including women, minorities, and European citizens. The EU highlighted the restrictions on freedom of opinion, expression, religion, and assembly, as well as the threatening measures taken against human rights defenders, journalists, and political dissidents in Iran.
Farzadi’s escape from Evin Prison has raised questions about his whereabouts and the implications for the prisoners left behind. The Israeli strikes on the prison compound have undoubtedly left a mark on the already grim history of Evin Prison, and the fate of Farzadi remains uncertain. As the world watches, the search for justice and accountability for the atrocities committed under Farzadi’s watch continues.
