After the Strike on Evin Prison: Iran Condemns Israeli Attack, Calls for Legal Redress and Domestic Clemency

According to Saed News, in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike targeting Tehran’s Evin Prison, Iran’s Chief Justice, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, issued a public message denouncing what he termed “a barbaric act” and a violation of established international humanitarian conventions.

The attack, which reportedly struck the capital’s primary detention centre and its adjoining judicial offices, resulted in the deaths of several prison staff, judicial personnel from Tehran’s District 33 prosecutor’s office, and visiting relatives of inmates. A number of prisoners were also injured. Iranian officials claim the incident represents a clear infringement of international law, particularly those governing the protection of civilian infrastructure and detainees during armed conflict.

Mohseni-Ejei described the strike as the act of a state frustrated by its inability to confront Iran militarily. “The criminal Zionist regime, having failed to defeat our armed forces, has turned its aggression against civilian targets,” he declared in a statement published by the Judiciary’s media centre. He called for the incident to be pursued in relevant international legal forums.

In an unusual closing appeal, Mohseni-Ejei addressed the Iranian public directly—urging private plaintiffs and victims who had brought charges leading to incarceration to consider withdrawing their complaints, thereby allowing some prisoners to be released. “In light of the current circumstances, I appeal to all rightful claimants to forgive where possible,” he said, suggesting that such acts of clemency would be both morally commendable and socially healing.

The judiciary’s head further suggested that freed inmates would be morally obliged to compensate complainants and repay debts where applicable.

The bombing of Evin Prison adds to the growing list of controversial Israeli targets during the recent twelve-day conflict, which has already drawn international scrutiny for its impact on Iranian civilian infrastructure. Although Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied involvement, Iran has consistently framed such strikes as war crimes designed to undermine the country’s internal stability.

Evin Prison, long known both for housing political detainees and conventional offenders, occupies a symbolic and strategic role in Tehran. A strike on the facility—regardless of strategic intent—carries significant weight, both domestically and internationally.

As ceasefire terms remain fragile and the international legal machinery slow to engage, the Iranian judiciary’s decision to combine external condemnation with an internal call for reconciliation appears calculated: both to consolidate political unity and to signal moral authority in the aftermath of an incident that Iran intends to frame as both a legal and ethical outrage.