Deadly Israeli attack on Iran's Evin Prison kills 71 but mainstream media bury the lede.

Prisoners, prisoner families, prison staff are reportedly among the dead. New York Times puts the story on page 11. Washington Post does a bit better.

Left, AFP; right, AP

I could be wrong about this, but I wonder how many readers of this newsletter know that an Israeli strike hit Iran’s infamous Evin Prison on Monday June 23 and killed a reported 71 people. The victims included prison staff, soldiers, prisoners, and family members who were visiting prisoners.

For reasons that are not clear, most media in the U.S. and internationally did not report the news until about June 29. Starting on that day, there were detailed reports by the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Le Monde, the Jerusalem Post, and others. The New York Times and The Washington Post eventually published fairly detailed stories, but they were more or less buried in both the print and electronic editions of those publications. For example, The New York Times put the story on page 11:

“A version of this article appears in print on June 30, 2025, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition with the headline: Israeli Strike On Evin Jail Left 71 Dead, Iran Reports.”

There may have been more or less rational reasons for the delay, for example that the initial reports came from Iranian state media and from a representative of the Iranian judiciary. But of course mainstream media normally immediately report statements of this kind by the Israeli government or officials of other nations, even if they have not been confirmed by press time—the mere statement is considered news.

Given the long-time demonization of the Iranian regime by Israel and its supporters, it is understandable that an apparently indiscriminate strike that killed likely opponents of the regime would be an embarrassment that might deserve special treatment by media hesitant to be critical of the Israeli government. But I admit that is speculation on my part.

In the midst of this fairly subdued news coverage, Fox News had an interesting story that does not otherwise seem to have gotten wide attention (the Fox story was also reported in The Jerusalem Post.) Apparently, the notorious director of Evin Prison, Hedayatollah Farzadi, got a warning from Israel shortly before the strikes and was able to escape.

Here is what Fox reported:

“The notorious director of Tehran’s brutal Evin Prison, Hedayatollah Farzadi, escaped the compound ahead of Israeli strikes following threats to his life – and an alleged exchange between Jerusalem and his adult son.

Israeli authorities reportedly contacted Amir Husseini Farzadi, telling him that if he convinced his father to release political prisoners, his life would be spared in the impending attack.

According to a series of WhatsApp messages shared with Fox News Digital by an Israeli intel source, an agent instructed Amir to tell his father to open the prison’s doors, warning that an attack would occur within "a few minutes." Amir asked whether something had already happened to his father, and the Israeli agent replied that it wouldn’t – if he passed the message along.”

According to the Fox story, Farzadi was seen speeding away from the prison just before the airstrikes began. Some of the political prisoners, meanwhile, may well have been killed.

Assuming these reports are true, what are we to make of them? Given what Israel has done to the people of Gaza, it should come as no surprise that it would strike Evin Prison and kill dozens of people in its efforts to assassinate Farzadi or other officials—including political prisoners and their innocent families. Such is the stuff of war crimes, for which we in the United States are paying with our taxes and our government’s political support.

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