Tehran prison chief flees after Israel contacts son before airstrikes

EXCLUSIVE – 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.

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The source told Fox News Digitial that after receiving the message, Amir contacted his uncle, who then drove to the prison to get his father, Farzadi. The two were seen speeding away from the area moments before the airstrikes began. Farzadi has not been heard from since, according to the source.

Farzadi, who has been the director of Evin Prison since 2022, has been accused of committing egregious human rights violations, including the torture and murder of inmates, many of whom are political dissidents. Allegations against him include beatings, starvation, sexual violence against female prisoners and murder. He has been sanctioned by both the U.S. and the European Union.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated Farzadi under the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which prohibits U.S. entities and individuals from dealing with him.

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“Numerous protesters have been sent to Evin Prison during the latest round of protests where they have been subjected to torture and other forms of physical abuse,” the Treasury Department wrote in a statement. 

Prior to his time at Evin Prison, Farzadi spent 10 years working at Dizel Abad Prison, where he “was known to organize public amputations of criminals convicted of petty crimes,” the Treasury Department wrote. The department also noted that during his time as director of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, also known as Fashafouyeh Prison, Farzadi “oversaw the torture and maltreatment” of inmates.

In its April 2025 announcement of sanctions against Ferzadi, as well as other entities and individuals, the EU condemned “the use of the judiciary as a tool for arbitrary detention” in Iran. The EU also noted that Iran saw a “dramatic increase in the number of executions” in 2024, which included women, minorities and European citizens. However, the EU did not specify how many of those executed were political dissidents.

“Freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of religion or belief, as well as freedom of assembly have been increasingly restricted, and threatening measures have been taken against human rights defenders, journalists and political dissidents,” the EU wrote.