An Israeli strike on Evin prison in Tehran on Monday was irresponsible and put prisoners “in mortal danger”, Noemie Kohler, whose sister Cecile is being held in the jail, told AFP.Iran’s judiciary said Israeli strikes left sections of the facility damaged and Israel’s defence minister confirmed the army was targeting it.Cecile Kohler has been held along with her partner Jacques Paris in Iran since May 2022 on espionage charges their families reject.Overall, Iran is believed to hold around 20 European nationals in what some Western governments describe as a strategy of hostage-taking aimed at extracting concessions from the West.Most are held in Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, notorious among activists for rights abuses.”This strike is completely irresponsible. Cecile, Jacques and all the prisoners are in mortal danger,” said Noemie Kohler.”This is really the worst thing that could have happened.”French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X that the Israeli strike was “unacceptable” but added that the French couple were not believed to have been harmed.”I have asked my Iranian counterpart for news of them and for their immediate release,” Barrot added.- ‘Risk of riots’ -The wife of another prisoner at Evin, Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Jalali, said she had spoken to her husband but had no clarity about his fate.Vida Mehrannia told AFP her husband, who is on death row, had called her to say he was being moved but did not know where he was going.”Is it because they want to carry out the sentence or for another reason,” she said. “I don’t know. After the call, I don’t even know if they transferred him or not.” Jalali, who was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death in 2017 for spying for Israel, was granted Swedish nationality while in jail.Several people accused of spying for Israel have been executed in recent weeks in Iran, leaving Mehrannia deeply worried about her husband.Chirinne Ardakani, a lawyer for the Kohler family, denounced the strikes as “illegal”.”The risk of riots, general confusion and reprisals by the security forces against the insurgent prisoners raises fears of bloodshed,” she told AFP.”Both sides are playing with people’s lives.”
An Israeli strike on Evin prison in Tehran on Monday was irresponsible and put prisoners “in mortal danger”, Noemie Kohler, whose sister Cecile is being held in the jail, told AFP.Iran’s judiciary said Israeli strikes left sections of the facility damaged and Israel’s defence minister confirmed the army was targeting it.Cecile Kohler has been held along with her partner Jacques Paris in Iran since May 2022 on espionage charges their families reject.Overall, Iran is believed to hold around 20 European nationals in what some Western governments describe as a strategy of hostage-taking aimed at extracting concessions from the West.Most are held in Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, notorious among activists for rights abuses.”This strike is completely irresponsible. Cecile, Jacques and all the prisoners are in mortal danger,” said Noemie Kohler.”This is really the worst thing that could have happened.”French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X that the Israeli strike was “unacceptable” but added that the French couple were not believed to have been harmed.”I have asked my Iranian counterpart for news of them and for their immediate release,” Barrot added.- ‘Risk of riots’ -The wife of another prisoner at Evin, Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Jalali, said she had spoken to her husband but had no clarity about his fate.Vida Mehrannia told AFP her husband, who is on death row, had called her to say he was being moved but did not know where he was going.”Is it because they want to carry out the sentence or for another reason,” she said. “I don’t know. After the call, I don’t even know if they transferred him or not.” Jalali, who was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death in 2017 for spying for Israel, was granted Swedish nationality while in jail.Several people accused of spying for Israel have been executed in recent weeks in Iran, leaving Mehrannia deeply worried about her husband.Chirinne Ardakani, a lawyer for the Kohler family, denounced the strikes as “illegal”.”The risk of riots, general confusion and reprisals by the security forces against the insurgent prisoners raises fears of bloodshed,” she told AFP.”Both sides are playing with people’s lives.”
