Busloads of prisoners have been transferred from Evin Prison to other prisons in the Tehran region after an Israeli strike yesterday targeted the gates to the notorious prison, where at least 11 Christians were among hundreds of prisoners of conscience.

According to Article18’s sources, some of the Christians have been transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, where they are being held in unsanitary conditions in overcrowded cells, with as many as 40 prisoners in each. Female prisoners, meanwhile, were transferred to Qarchak women’s prison, where they are reportedly being held in the gymnasium owing to a lack of space elsewhere.

Among the prisoners previously held in Evin were Joseph Shahbazian, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, Aida Najaflou, Amir-Ali Minaei, Hakop Gochumyan and Mina Khajavi.

Over 60 Christians are currently either detained or in the process of being tried on charges related to their faith in Iran.

In many cases, the individuals or their loved ones are required to make regular visits to the offices of the agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other locations that have been the target of attacks in recent days.

The Tehran prosecutor’s office, where many Christians have been taken over the years, and IRGC headquarters were among the sites targeted yesterday, before today’s announcement of a ceasefire.

Article18 released a statement yesterday expressing “grave concern” for the safety and well-being of all prisoners following the strike on Evin, during which some officers were reportedly killed and windows were shattered. 

We had previously called for the release of all prisoners of conscience, in line with the Islamic Republic’s own regulations, which allow for the temporary release of all but the most dangerous criminals in “critical situations”.

Last week, we reported that at least three trials involving Christians had been postponed – in Tehran and two other cities – since the conflict began.

We are also aware of at least one Christian directly impacted by the strikes, although we are not liberty to provide further details at this time.

At the start of the conflict, we released a statement calling on the Islamic Republic to “abandon its inflammatory rhetoric and ideological hostility” and on the Israeli government to “refrain from targeting civilian infrastructure that could “worsen human suffering and make any future path towards peace and reconciliation all the more difficult to walk”.