TEHRAN – Six days after the Israeli regime’s unprovoked and illegal airstrike on Tehran’s Evin Prison martyred 71 civilians, prisoners, and staff, the regime’s media machinery has resorted to a desperate campaign of disinformation to whitewash its war crimes.

In an “exclusive” published by Fox News, Israeli sources peddled a fantastical narrative claiming Hedayatollah Farzadi, Evin’s director, fled the facility minutes before the June 23 attack following a WhatsApp warning to his son.

Judiciary officials and chronological evidence now conclusively debunk this as a coordinated psyop designed to distract from the massacre of defenseless Iranians.

Fox News, citing unnamed Israeli sources, alleged that an Israeli agent contacted Farzadi’s son, Amir-Hosseini Farzadi, via WhatsApp.

The agent purportedly promised to spare Farzadi’s life if political prisoners were freed, instructing Amir: “Tell your father to open the prison’s doors. An attack will occur within a few minutes.”

The report claimed Farzadi then fled with his brother, evading the strike.

The timeline, however, collapses under scrutiny:

- The attack occurred at 10:30 AM Tehran time (09:00 AM Tel Aviv time) on June 23.

- Screenshots of the alleged WhatsApp messages show the warning sent at 12:56 PM Tel Aviv time (02:26 PM Tehran time)—four hours after the actual strike.

- Messages referenced an imminent attack "within minutes" at a time when the prison had already been reduced to rubble.

Judiciary investigators dismiss the story as chronologically impossible, noting Farzadi was conducting a routine inspection of prison wards alongside a visiting delegation during the strike.

Analysts believe the regime’s lies aim to divert attention from their deliberate slaughter of families in a humanitarian space.

A ‘symbolic’ strike that martyred the innocent

While Israeli War Minister Israel Katz framed the bombing as a "symbolic strike" targeting "Iran’s oppression machinery," the missiles struck the prison’s medical center, visitation halls, and administrative offices at 10:30 AM—peak hours for Monday family visits.

According to Judiciary Spokesman Asghar Jahangir, the attack led to the martyrdom of 71 individuals. Among the victims were members of the prison staff and security guards who were on duty at the time.

Young conscripts fulfilling their compulsory military service were also tragically caught in the violence. In addition, the assault claimed the lives of several prisoners.

The devastation extended beyond the prison walls, affecting civilians as well: family members who had come to visit their incarcerated loved ones and neighbors living in the vicinity of the prison complex were also among those who lost their lives.

"The Zionists committed a wholesale crime. Even neighbors near the visitation hall were martyred. This reveals who truly threatens civilians in our region," the spokesman said.

Hours after the bombing, Iran relocated surviving inmates to secure facilities.

Eyewitnesses described scenes of carnage. A sister of an inmate, present for visitation, recounted in an interview with the Iranian newspaper Etemad: “Three missiles hit the prison entrance. Families and plaintiffs seeking dispute resolution were covered in blood. Prison staff handed phones to inmates to call relatives—my brother called me, crying, ‘People died before my eyes!’”

Among the martyrs was Mehrangiz Imanpour, an artist and mother of two, who lived near the prison. Her former husband, writer Reza Khandan-Mahabadi, mourned: "Mehrangiz was the beauty in my children’s lives."

Another life lost in the tragedy was that of Hajar “Hasti” Mohammadi, who had gone to Evin Prison on a charitable mission to help coordinate the release of several debt prisoners.

During the airstrike, falling debris from the bombing caused the entrance to the prison’s visitation hall to collapse, claiming her life in the midst of her selfless service.

Why Evin?

The strike formed part of the Israeli regime’s 12-day war on Iran, which killed over 600 Iranians, predominantly civilians.

Israel framed the Evin bombing as a “symbolic” effort to “free political prisoners,” yet its timing and targeting tell a darker story:

- Cover-up motive: Iranian security experts suggest Israel may have sought to eliminate captured operatives or spies who could have exposed Mossad networks in Iran.

- Foreign citizens in peril: The prison held foreign prisoners such as French citizens Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, arrested in 2022 on espionage charges. Their proximity to the blast site drew condemnation from Paris, even though France has supported the regime militarily and diplomatically throughout the conflict and is complicit in Israeli war crimes.

- Psychological warfare: Destroying Evin—a site synonymous with state sovereignty and order—signaled Israel’s intent to humiliate Iran’s governance institutions and create chaos in Tehran.  

While some Western outlets amplified the Fox News narrative, Iran facilitated international media tours of Evin’s ruins on Sunday.

Journalists from Reuters, AP, Al Jazeera, and Russia Today documented structural damage and bloodstained visitation halls.