Life for Reza Khandan has only got worse since Tehran’s Evin prison, where he was an inmate, was hit by an Israeli airstrike on 23 June. The next night, the 60-year-old human rights activist – who was arrested in 2024 for his support of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement – was moved to another jail in the south of the capital, where he has told family conditions are hard to endure.
“My father and others do not have beds and are forced to sleep on the floor. He once found six or seven bedbugs in his blanket when he woke up,” said his daughter Mehraveh Khandan, who described “horrific” sanitary conditions in the prison.
Families of political prisoners in Iran say conditions have worsened since the end of the 12-day war and that they fear vulnerable detainees will bear the brunt of what activists say is a broader crackdown by the Iranian authorities, whose legitimacy was shaken by Israel’s campaign.
The fighting began on 13 June with a barrage of hundreds of Israeli airstrikes that Israel said were aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran quickly responded with a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones. The air war brought in the US and continued until both sides agreed a ceasefire.
An unknown number of prisoners were moved by the Iranian authorities to other detention facilities in the aftermath of Israel’s strike on Evin, which killed 71 people, including some in the jail and others in its vicinity. The whereabouts of many is unknown but those who have been in contact with relatives have said their new jails are even worse than Evin, which was notorious for the torture of political detainees.
Mehraveh, who is based in Amsterdam, said: “The only cooking water available to prisoners was salty until Sunday. [And] in recent days we have witnessed the disappearance of several prisoners who were already facing the death penalty or long sentences.”
Many families have not heard from their loved ones, as long queues have formed for the few phones in detention facilities. Asso Azizi, whose sister Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish aid worker, is on death row, said he had not heard from her in two days.
She and other women were transferred to Qarchak prison, which is described as overcrowded and unsanitary. “Unfortunately, they were not even able to take their personal and sanitary items with them,” Asso said.
Besides the unsanitary conditions, Asso is terrified that the authorities may expedite his sister’s death sentence, which she was handed in July 2024 “solely in relation to her peaceful humanitarian and human rights activities”, according to Amnesty International. The Iranian authorities charged her with armed rebellion against the state.
“There is a concern that just as the process of dealing with her case was very hasty and fast, confirming this sentence in only three days, that now they will execute this sentence to create terror among the people,” Asso said.
As conditions worsen in prison, activists and residents of Tehran have also described a wave of repression as the country reels from the war. Security forces have set up checkpoints across the country, stopping pedestrians and checking their mobile phones, sometimes detaining people based on their online activity.
The security crackdown comes as the Iranian authorities grapple with the extensive Israeli intelligence penetration of its forces and a wave of online criticism.
According to Iranian state media, 700 people have been arrested on charges of collaborating with Israel during the 12-day war. The New-York based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has said hundreds more were arrested in Tehran and six people were executed on espionage charges.
Iran’s parliament is considering a bill that allows for broader use of the death penalty for those who are accused of collaborating with foreign powers, with judicial authorities specifically referencing espionage with Israel.
Hadi Ghaemi, the CHRI’s executive director, said: “Iranian authorities are locking people up incommunicado without cause or access to a lawyer, and sending them to the gallows on ‘national security’ charges in order to terrorise the public and re-establish control.”
The Iranian prison system is murky, particularly for political prisoners. The legal system is plagued with secret trials and allegations of torture. Tracking detainees through the labyrinthine Iranian security apparatus is often a challenge.
For families of Iranian political prisoners, the days ahead will be filled with fear. Mehraveh said: “It is clear that a new wave of intense repression has begun, more severe than ever before. We are deeply concerned.”
