Six Iranian clerics killed in Israeli airstrikes, seminary says

Israeli agents warned Amir-Hossein Farzadi that his father would be targeted unless political prisoners were released.

“It will happen in a few minutes,” one message read. Amir relayed the threat to his uncle, who then evacuated Farzadi from the prison compound just before the deadly strikes, the report said.

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  'Repression bodies': inside the Iranian security apparatus hit by Israel

The Tehran Province Prisons Department dismissed the report, saying that Farzadi was inspecting the prison wards at the time of the strike.

Farzadi has led the notorious prison since 2022 and has been sanctioned by the US and EU for human rights abuses.

“Numerous protesters have been sent to Evin Prison… where they have been subjected to torture and other forms of physical abuse,” the US Treasury Department said in April.

Prior to Evin, Farzadi served at prisons in Kermanshah and Tehran where he oversaw amputations, torture, and alleged sexual violence against inmates. He remains on the US Specially Designated Nationals list.

Throughout its 12-day war on Iran, Israel launched strikes on key state organs tasked with domestic surveillance, protest suppression, detention and propaganda, targeting what it called “repression infrastructure.”

The attacks focused on intelligence and security agencies, judicial and detention systems, and officials overseeing internal control.

Israel framed the strikes as a show of solidarity with Iranian protesters and an effort to disrupt the Islamic Republic’s repressive capacity.

Hedayatollah Farzadi, the head of Iran’s notorious Evin Prison fled the site moments before Israeli airstrikes, Fox News reported Saturday, citing leaked messages between Israeli intelligence and Farzadi's son.

Israeli agents warned Amir-Hossein Farzadi that his father would be targeted unless political prisoners were released.

“It will happen in a few minutes,” one message read. Amir relayed the threat to his uncle, who then evacuated Farzadi from the prison compound just before the deadly strikes, the report said.

The Tehran Province Prisons Department dismissed the report, saying that Farzadi was inspecting the prison wards at the time of the strike.

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Iranian troops fled in hysteria as drones struck Islamic Republic sites, an Israeli military commander said when describing scenes of chaos and disarray across military bases.

“With their eyes, or through their ears, or using other systems they had, they began running hysterically around their bases as if in a ‘scorched earth’ procedure,” said Major R, commander of Israel’s drone operations, in an interview with Channel 12.

“In one location we attacked, we hardly saw them returning — they were really scared.”

He said Israeli drone strikes caused significant psychological disruption and forced the relocation of missile launchers from western to eastern Iran.

The officer added that the drones served a dual purpose, carrying out both strikes and real-time reconnaissance to identify targets beyond previously gathered intelligence.

Iran’s state broadcaster has released footage showing the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the home of Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran.

Shamkhani, who survived the attack with allegedly serious injuries, attended the funerals of slain generals on Saturday.

He told Iran's state TV that he was trapped under rubble for three hours following the Israeli airstrike on his home and sustained internal injuries.

"Israel knows why it targeted me, and I know too, but I can’t say why," Ali Shamkhani told the state TV on Saturday.

He also said the United States was not negotiating with Iran for the sake of reaching a deal but to "deceive" the Islamic Republic.

The inquiries, which focused on personal ties with relatives in Israel, mark the most expansive state action against Iranian Jews in decades, HRANA reported.

“Emphasis was placed on avoiding any phone or online communication with abroad,” the rights group cited a source close to the families as saying.

Jews are not the only minority group being targeted. Iranian security forces raided at least 19 homes belonging to members of the Baha’i community during and after the Israel war, human rights groups say.

Analysts say the moves reflect both the state’s effort to project strength and its its reliance on targeting minorities when facing external setbacks.

Rights concerns

Pegah Bani-Hashmi, a senior legal researcher, told Iran International that the accusations of espionage against Jewish and Bahai citizens are “factually baseless and violate Iran’s own constitution.”

“These communities usually stay out of political activism,” she said. “There’s no legal or security justification for what the state is doing.”

Shahin Milani, director of the Human Rights Documentation Center, told Iran International the arrests expose the government’s failure to identify actual threats.

“Baha’is and other citizens don’t have access to classified information. They’re always under surveillance. Accusing them of spying is just an excuse to deflect blame and intimidate the population,” he said.

Iran’s parliament passed a law in 2011 banning travel to Israel. Many Iranian Jews maintain familial and religious ties there, and rights experts say the law has become a tool for suppression.

Community fears grow

A senior figure in Tehran’s Jewish community told HRANA that “we’ve seen limited cases before, but this is unprecedented.” He said the scale of recent summonses has triggered deep concern about the safety of their community.

Authorities have not issued formal charges but told families the actions are intended to gather information to prevent crimes.

Rights lawyers warn that these measures could constitute discrimination based on religion and ethnicity, in breach of Iran’s obligations under international law.

Rani Omrani, an independent journalist, told Iran International that Tehran’s tactics reflect its inability to confront Israel directly.

“Because they can’t reach Israel, they’re punishing innocent Jews at home,” he said.