Residents living next to Tehran’s Evin Prison say they were robbed of billions of tomans in cash and valuables after an Israeli airstrike on the prison’s judiciary and security wing on June 23, according to Iranian media reports.
The news site Rouydad 24 reported Sunday that following the attack, security forces from an “unidentified institution” sealed off a neighboring residential complex, forced residents to evacuate, and barred them from returning. When residents were allowed back less than 24 hours later, the guards who had promised to protect the building were gone, and valuables were missing.
One resident, Mr. Shahriari, said he had pleaded to retrieve his wife’s multiple sclerosis medication and other valuables, but security forces claimed an unexploded missile made reentry unsafe. Upon returning, he discovered thefts worth about 6 billion tomans, including $10,000, €5,000, gold jewelry, watches, and a collection of lighters.
Another resident, Ashkan Sheikh al-Islam, said the stolen gold was a family heirloom saved over decades, while a woman named Nejin described finding military boot prints on her bed and broken doors, with valuable contents gone though luggage remained.
The incident has fueled allegations of exploitation by security forces within Iran’s crisis-hit system, with critics saying the authorities took advantage of a forced evacuation during wartime chaos to loot citizens instead of protecting them.
