Israel strikes Tehran’s notorious Evin prison as Iran lobs more missiles towards Israeli cities

Explosions rocked Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Monday as Israel attacked government and military sites, including the notorious Evin prison where political detainees are kept.

A day after the US struck three main Iranian nuclear facilities with bunker-busting bombs, Israel also bombed approach roads to the Fordo uranium enrichment plant.

Meanwhile, Iran has responded by sending waves of missiles and drones into Israel, with blasts heard in multiple cities.

According to CCTV footage, the Israeli strike on the prison damaged one of the gates with Iranian state TV later showing first responders carrying a casualty and searching for survivors under a flattened building.

Israel’s defence minister said the military was hitting “regime targets and agencies of government repression” across Tehran. The strike on Evin prison was symbolic of this.

In Israel, an Iranian missile hit an industrial area in the coastal city of Ashdod, close to a power station. Electricity supplies were disrupted in some areas.

The conflict started 10 days ago when Israel launched a large-scale air campaign against Iran, with the aim of removing what it called the existential threat of the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Israel targeted several military leaders and atomic scientists apart from military and nuclear infrastructure.

Iran’s health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed around 500 people so far, although one human rights group has put the death toll at 950.

Iranian missile strikes on Israeli cities have killed 24 people, according to Israeli authorities.