An Urgent Appeal from a group of Evin Prison inmates after Monday’s attack:

“On Monday, June 23, 2025, following an airstrike by Israeli fighter jets on Evin Prison, parts of the administrative buildings, infirmary, and the detention office of the prison’s prosecutor’s office were severely damaged. Part of Ward 4 collapsed, windows shattered, and due to prisoners rushing downstairs to save their lives, several were injured. The prison infirmary has been completely destroyed and there are no basic medical facilities in the wards to treat the wounded. Prison officials are refusing to transfer the injured outside and have effectively abandoned them without care.

Meanwhile, security forces and prison guards have deployed heavily inside the wards, creating a highly repressive atmosphere instead of assisting prisoners. Threats, intimidation, and pressure on prisoners—especially after the attack—have increased. Outside the prison, highways leading to Evin have been blocked, and families are being prevented from reaching the facility. Nevertheless, a number of families have gathered in front of the prison despite the danger.

We, the besieged and defenseless prisoners, declare: We had nowhere to escape during the bombing, nor have we had any refuge from the organized violence that has crushed our lives and dignity for years.

We call on the people, families, and all those with a conscience:
Do not remain silent. Gather now in front of Evin Prison to save our lives.
We are wounded, threatened, and could die at any moment.

—A group of Evin Prison inmates,  June 23, 2025"

Somayeh Kargar, former political prisoner in Iran, now in exile, posted a statement in part:

"Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression, the Islamic Republic has been warned to immediately release political prisoners and not to take advantage of them as hostages of war. But the lives of prisoners are of no value to the Islamic Republic or to Israel. The time has come to release the prisoners into the hands of the people.

‍The only way to save the prisoners of Evin is for all families to gather with the help and support of a large number of people from Tehran and other cities in front of Evin. Students from various universities, activists of labor social movements and teachers, women and retirees, and especially human rights activists, must play an important role in calling and organizing people to save the prisoners.

‍This can be a turning point in the broad unity and solidarity to confront all the evils of Israel/U.S. and the Islamic Republic regime. Our people must take their destiny into their own hands. Releasing political prisoners can be an important step toward that.
signed: Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist (CPIMLM) "

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Note:  On June 21, the US bombed Iran. Just four days earlier, a statement from the “No to Execution
Tuesdays” campaign by hunger striking prisoners had warned of the threat to their lives by being “bombs
from the sky and riot police behind bars

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As Israeli bombs rain death on Iran, prisoners caught in crossfire stand firm

“The Iranian people have been embroiled in a war that they did not and do not want at all.” So begins the June 17 statement by the weekly hunger strike campaign “No to Execution Tuesdays” now in 47 prisons across Iran.  (Read IEC’s translation of full prisoners’ statement https://www.instagram.com/p/DLB5l4mu7tR/)
The prisoners’ campaign describes two chillingly emblematic incidents during this week of terror.

Caught between bombs from the sky and riot police behind bars

In the early hours of June 16, Israeli missiles rained down near the Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah, a majority-Kurdish city in Western Iran. Amid broken glass and the deafening sound of explosions, inmates demanded to be moved to a safer location. Instead, guards fired directly at prisoners, killing 9-10 and wounding many more. Riot control forces were deployed, using pellet guns, tear gas, and other means of suppression to subdue prisoners. Some prison doors were reportedly welded shut to restrict movement within the facility. The bodies of the deceased were secreted out in private vehicles, and all communication with the prisoners has been cut off since.[1]

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The prisoners’ campaign also notes that on the same day, Esmail Fekri was hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on charges of “sending sensitive information to Israel” although no evidence or details have been provided to substantiate the charges.[2]

There is a mortal danger to the political prisoners — and to all who are resisting the regime's fascist theocratic rule. All this will greatly increase repression and even possibly the massacre of prisoners (as happened in 1988 in Iran). It may encourage the regime's social base to conflate Israel with Iranian dissidents(especially those of oppressed regions). Amnesty International has raised the alarm about the IRI’s calls for expedited trials and executions .[3] In the week since the first Israeli airstrikes (June 17), the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has arrested at least 300 people on vague charges like espionage or “collaboration” with Israel, including for merely publishing war-related photos on social media.[4] As of June 20, there is a country-wide shutdown of the internet, meaning loved ones can’t find one another and people can’t receive evacuation warnings,greatly increasing the sense of panic and chaos.

What kind of people are being arrested for aiding Israel? It was reported that at least 18 teenage girls were arrested on June 17 in Mahabad, a majority-Kurd city, for expressing opinions about the war on social media. They were temporarily released after several hours of interrogation under pressure and threats, with a court case filed and receiving bail.

In another example, on June 19, 30 plainclothes officers raided the home of dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi and held him incommunicado for 5 hours before releasing him. This was two days after he had scathingly criticized the warning (by Trump, although Toomaj didn’t name him) to “Evacuate Tehran”, which directly contradicts the regime’s excuse that dissidents are “helping Israel”.  

War Danger to Prisoners

On June 16, Israel issued a warning to evacuate District 3 in Tehran, home to 330,000 people, many of whom would be unable to evacuate. Among those are 15,000 inmates in Evin Prison who are not only unable to escape Israeli bombs but have been cut off from any phone calls.

On June 19, several political prisoners in Evin signed a letter demanding temporary furloughs to enable them to leave the war-torn area. The duty to protect prisoners from harm during war is specified by international law.[5]  Political prisoners in Evin Prison in particular have continued to struggle to bring moral and political clarity under dire conditions. Evin Prison, especially the women’s ward, has been long-known as a bastion of political resistance.This makes Israel’s bombing of Evin Prison all the more criminal and depraved. And this role highlights the importance of continuing to fight to free all political prisoners in Iran and to stop ALL executions.

One way (of many) to do this is to bring alive for people in the US the deep humanity and solidarity of these prisoners, is to promote the new book written by Sepideh Gholian while imprisoned in Evin, Evin Prison Bakers’ Club, Surviving Iran’s Most Notorious Prison in 16 Recipes (see our review). We are overjoyed to report that 30-year-old Sepideh was just released after completing her most recent 2.5 year imprisonment.

We conclude with the end of the statement from the hunger strikers from last week:

The presence and solidarity of the people is more important than ever in these critical days caused by the wars...You, the conscious and free people, are the only support and voice for us prisoners.

The release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience and the immediate revocation of all death sentences must become a public demand because the lives of political prisoners and those sentenced to death are in grave danger, and it is feared that the government will, as in the past, take those convicted to the slaughterhouse to intensify repression and intimidation.

The "No to the Death Penalty Tuesdays" campaign will be on hunger strike in the 73rd week of Tuesday, June 17, in 47 prisons."

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So People Everywhere Can Learn What's Happening And Can ACT NOW!

In light of the grave situation in Evin prison and the  other hell-hole prisons across Iran, it is crucially important to get the courageous words and resistance into the public square.

This is concentrated in the IEC’s demands: Free Iran’s political prisoners NOW! No US War Moves on Iran

This a message must ring out across social media, emails, and texts, and in the public square! This will give heart to the prisoners, their loved ones, and millions of Iranians. People everywhere need to be squarely confronted with the unfolding reality, so they — and especially those of us in the US, the country that sponsors Israel’s bombs and itself has now dropped massive bombs on Iran — can ACT commensurate with the urgency and gravity of the peril to the political prisoners.

Donate to boost social media posts, advertise in popular media, and more. This is an important way that you and many others you know can play a role.
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BREAKING! JUNE 11: SEPIDEH RELEASED FROM PRISON!

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^{Celebrating a Memoir/Cookbook by Sepideh Gholian: Evin Prison Bakers’ Club: Surviving Iran’s Most Notorious Prisons in 16 Recipes}

The UK Guardian reviewer said of the book that: “In every line and in every moment it attempts to recreate, it is entirely and unconditionally defiant.”¹

“A fighting woman cannot be imprisoned because her voice is louder than prison walls. This book is proof”—This quotation from Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner,² accompanied the announcement of the publication of The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club: Surviving Iran’s Most Notorious Prisons in 16 Recipes, by Sepideh Gholian. Thirty-year-old Sepideh is a political prisoner held behind Evin’s walls, but her profound empathy with fellow prisoners, her fury at oppression, her joy in comradeship, and her hope for the future, ring loud and clear around the world with this new book released in April, 2025 by OneWorld Publications. It calls for readers to try out the 16 recipes that accompany stories of 16 political prisoners, some including harrowing accounts of prison abuse and torture. She has been repeatedly imprisoned by Iran’s theocratic regime since 2018 when she was 23 years old (see her heroic background story in the on this website under #FreeSepideh).

Here’s just one tidbit to whet your appetite — recipe for madeleines with which she highlights the story of Marzieh Amiri, a journalist sentenced to over 10 years in Evin and 148 lashes for “collusion against national security” (i.e., covering labor strikes in front of parliament):

Bake it the night before, stick it in your pocket, stride down the pavement, let your hijab [headscarf] hang lopsided so you’ll feel some wind in your hair, and take a bite out of the madeleine with the rap playing for you. Carry out a tiny act of feminism in the name of Marzieh Amiri… One day, when our people are victorious, I’ll bake you a cake in the streets of Ahvaz [her hometown in oppressed Khuzestan province]. That day isn’t far off now. I hope we can bring it about together.

The story of how sections of the book were smuggled out of prison in pieces and images is also fascinating.³ It was a determined collaborative feat sent out of Evin prison in scraps of paper or via phone calls, patched together, translated and then published.

We encourage readers to purchase the book here at Revolution Books. For online or temporary reading, we share with you a PDF version or EPUB version produced by OceanofPdf.com.

Prisoner Strike and Protests against Executions Continue

Prisoners in Iran on weekly hunger strike against executions announced that their weekly “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign has entered its 71st consecutive week, spreading now to 46 prisons across Iran.

Below is an excerpt of the June 3, 2025 post by @no_to_execution_Tuesdays on IG (also reposted by @BurnTheCage).

Since the beginning of June, there’s been an average of 7 people who have been hanged per day… With greetings and gratitude to the families of prisoners who have been shouting "No to Execution" in different parts of the country for weeks and supporting this campaign, we once again call on the general public, especially the families of prisoners sentenced to death, to support the "No to Execution Tuesdays" campaign in any way possible and not to leave the protesting families alone. The voice of "No to Execution" must resonate in every city and street, because this government is daily causing grief to families in every corner of the country. Our strength lies in our unity and solidarity.

They also posted their support for a massive truckers’ strike⁴ now in its third week (with 40+ strikers arrested).

Iran Targets Afghan Migrants

Amid the horrific rise in executions overall,⁵ the execution of one particular oppressed, ethnic group stands out: Afghan migrants who are often undocumented laborers in Iran.

In 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed at least 80 Afghans, reportedly three times as many as the previous year. And in the first five months of 2025, it executed 32, according to a statement by 84 human rights organizations. They noted: “Iran is home to one of the world’s largest Afghan migrant populations, many of whom fled after the Taliban's return to power in 2021. The spike in executions comes amid worsening economic conditions in Iran and an increase in anti-migrant rhetoric from officials, who have increasingly blamed Afghan migrants for the country’s social and economic challenges.”⁶

The regime’s strategy of scapegoating the most oppressed and vulnerable sections of people in Iran, in this case Afghan refugees fleeing from one fascist theocracy of the Taliban into another of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). Also, oppressed nationalities like Baluchis, Kurds and Arabs, are scapegoats in the IRI’s attempt to solidify a social base of reactionary misogynists and Great-Persia nationalists. This in turn helps them to hammer into silence sections of the population. In this way, Iran’s Execution Republic uses the noose not only to spread terror, but also to normalize and numb people to state murder, femicide and repression of minorities. In this light, the struggle to end executions, and in particular the steadfast growth of the prisoners’ hunger strike, takes on great importance and calls for solidarity from all justice-loving people of the world.

In a sick irony, this whipping up of a narrow, reactionary nationalism among sections of Iranians feeds into the much more dangerous, and much more reprehensible, anti-Iran and anti-Muslim gangsterism of the U.S. imperialists, now on disgusting display with Trump’s travel ban on 12 countries including Iran, and the open threats which lie just below their current nuclear negotiations.

Support and Emulate the Spirit of Entire and Unconditional Defiance

We call on everyone to reflect on the beam of light and hope against repression and oppression emanating from the prisoners in some of the deepest hellholes on our planet—the infamous and murderous prisons of Iran, especially the historically savage torture prison called Evin. It is a challenge to everyone on our planet who find ourselves facing off against fascist regimes like that in Iran, and now in the U.S., to raise our sights with righteous anger and courage and forge the road forward in the interest of a better world and future for humanity.         

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FOOTNOTES:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/11/the-evin-prison-bakers-club-by-sepideh-gholian-review.  

2. A human rights activist and lawyer in exile from Iran, Ms. Ebadi is a signatory to IEC’s Emergency Appeal.  

3. See, for example, Recipes from an Iranian prison: ‘If there is one book that shows the power of words, it’s this one’, hyphenonline.com, April 8, 2025.  

4. “A nationwide truck drivers’ strike in Iran has entered its third week, spreading to at least 163 cities, making it one of the country’s largest labor protests in recent years. Despite arrests and intimidation by authorities—at least 40 drivers and supporters had been arrested as of June 3—the truck drivers have remained steadfast, disrupting major transport routes and gaining broad public support throughout Iran… Drivers are protesting against mounting economic pressures, including low fares, rising insurance costs, low freight rates, a proposed fuel price hike, deteriorating livelihoods, and the Iranian government’s disregard for their demands.” Iran’s Truck Drivers’ Strike Sweeps 163 Cities, Dozens Arrested, Center for Human Rights in Iran, June 4, 2025.  

5. Iran Executes 163 People in May, a 143% Increase from Previous Year, iranwire.com, June 2, 2025.  

6. Rights Groups: Iran’s Executions of Afghans Triple, iranwire.com, June 6, 2025.  

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