The director of Iran’s Evin Prison escaped the jail before airstrikes and after threats on his life attributed to Israel, Fox News reported on Saturday.
Hedayatollah Farzadi, who was known for his numerous human rights violations, escaped after Israeli authorities allegedly contacted his adult son, Amir Husseini Farzadi.
The messages seen by Fox show that the entity messaging Amir Farzadi told him to try to convince his father to release political prisoners. If he did, the messages alleged, his life would be spared in airstrikes.
The messages, which were shared with Fox by an Israeli intelligence source, an agent told Amir to tell his father to open the prison, warning of an attack in the coming minutes.
When Amir asked if something had happened to his father, the alleged agent said that nothing would happen if he told his father about the message.
Farzadi heavily sanctioned by the US and EU
Amir’s uncle went to the prison to get Farzadi, and the two were seen speeding away from the prison moments before the airstrike began.
Farzadi has been accused of torturing and murdering inmates, most of whom are political dissidents. He has also been accused of sexually assaulting female prisoners as well as starving and beating inmates. He has been sanctioned by the US and the EU.
"Numerous protesters have been sent to Evin Prison during the latest round of protests, where they have been subjected to torture and other forms of physical abuse," the US Treasury Department wrote in a statement.
In the US, Farzadi was designated under the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which means that US entities are prohibited from dealing with him.
The Treasury Department noted that Farzadi had also dealt with inmates in his previous positions in abusive ways. At Dizel Abad Prison, he was known to “organize public amputations of criminals convicted of petty crimes.”