Iran has said 71 people were killed in an Israeli army bombing last Monday of its notorious Evin prison, where many political prisoners and dissidents have been held.
At the end of its 12-day aerial war with Iran, Israel struck the prison in Tehran as part of an expansion of its bombing targets beyond military and nuclear sites. The Evin prison has become a symbol of Iran's ruling system as a holding site for many regime opponents.
The death toll released by Iranian authorities comes six days on from the attack.
“Seventy-one people were martyred, including prison administrative staff, conscripts, families of prisoners who were visiting to pursue legal cases, and neighbours who lived near the prison,” said Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for Iran's judiciary.
His remarks were carried by the judiciary's news outlet Mizan.
Mizan said the prison's medical centre, engineering building, visitors' building and prosecutor’s office were all damaged. Mr Jahangir called the bombing a contradiction of international and humanitarian law.
Iran had not previously announced any death toll, though on Saturday it confirmed that top prosecutor Ali Ghanaatkar had been killed in the attack. Mr Ghanaatkar's past prosecution of dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, has previously led to widespread criticism from human rights groups.
Iran holds funeral procession for leading figures killed in Israeli strikes
Mr Ghanaatkar was one of about 60 people for whom a massive public funeral procession was held on Saturday in Tehran.
Rights groups have criticised Israel for striking the prison, saying it breached the principle of distinguishing between civilian and military targets. Israel said it was striking “regime targets”.
Images shared by the Iranian judiciary after the attack showed destroyed walls, collapsed ceilings, scattered debris and broken surfaces across waiting areas at the prison.
The jail holds a number of foreign nationals, including two French citizens, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been detained for three years. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has called the Israeli bombing “unacceptable”.
The prison was established in 1972 under late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It consists of a five-hectare complex in northern Tehran estimated to hold 10,000 to 15,000 inmates, including protesters, journalists, academics and foreigners accused of espionage.
Following the 1979 Iranian revolution, it became the regime's main detention centre for political prisoners. Inmates have included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ms Mohammadi.
