Inside ‘torturous’ Iran PoW prison it keeps captives as US jet shot down | World | News
Express investigated how Iran treats captives (Image: Getty)
Search and rescue efforts continue in southern Iran after the shooting down of the US F-15 warplane, which was a first in the current war between the US, Israel and Iran. It is unknown how many crew members were on the plane, but Iranian state media claimed that its own forces shot down the plane. In the latest update, one of the crew members on the crashed jet was rescued by US forces, two officials told CBS News.
Following the alleged incident, the announcer of a local channel in Iran’s Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province read the following announcement: “If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a valuable reward.” The current whereabouts and health status of the remaining crew are unknown, at a time when reports from international human rights organizations and the UN point to a serious deterioration in the treatment of all detainees due to ongoing regional military conflicts and civil unrest.
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Iranian regime refuses to release political prisoners despite military strikes near detention centers (Image: Getty)
Iran’s prison system is reportedly under extreme pressure following major uprisings across the country in recent months. Human rights reports published last month suggest the Iranian regime is refusing to release political prisoners despite military strikes near detention centres. In some cases, prisoners were trapped in locked cells during bombardments, such as Mahabad and Fashafouyeh prisons.
According to the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), the situation in Fashafouyeh Prison (Greater Tehran Central Prison) is “extremely critical”: “The bombardments destroyed part of the prison, including the food warehouse, and inmates face a serious shortage of medicines and basic necessities. Inmates are currently receiving only one meal a day.”
“Fearful of bombings, many prison officials and guards left their posts, neglecting the prisoners while the prison warehouse remained closed.
“Under these distressing circumstances, authorities suddenly transferred 50 political prisoners from Evin Prison to Fashafouyeh without prior notice. They were crammed into an unsanitary room for 20 people without basic amenities and forced to sleep on most floors.”
Islamic Regime hanged Navid Afkari in prison in 2020 after torturing him following his arrest in 2018 (Image: Getty)
Iran has a documented history of state-run hostage-taking, with foreign or dual nationals often detained on vague security charges. These people are then used as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps, according to the report. Harvard Kennedy School In February.
“They create a story that there was a suspicious story before you were arrested, they feed that story to the state-controlled media, and when you go to prison everyone says you did something bad or you wouldn’t be here,” says environmentalist and former political prisoner Morad Tahbaz.
According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, common complaints from recent detainees include prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and “coercive interrogations” aimed at extracting confessions on television (FDD). While Tehran’s Evin Prison is the most notorious, other facilities in Iran are also known for their cruelty.
Adel Abad Prison in the southwestern city of Shiraz was the site of 85 executions in 2024, according to the Human Rights Activists New Agency, making it the “second most active prison in terms of executions in Iran.”
In 2020, the Islamic Republic hanged 27-year-old famous champion wrestler Navid Afkari in prison after torturing him following his arrest in 2018. The United States sanctioned the prison, citing “incidents of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, and denial of the right to liberty of those who wish only to practice their faith, peacefully assemble, or express themselves.”
Some captives were transferred to undisclosed locations and families were given no information for weeks or months. (Image: Getty)
The appalling treatment of prisoners in Iran is not a new issue. During the Iran–Iraq war in the 1980s, Iraqi prisoners of war in Iran were frequently subjected to retraining efforts. While some were treated relatively well, encouraging them to join anti-Saddam militias such as the Badr Organization, others faced harsh conditions in overcrowded camps.
Iran is one of the signatories of the Geneva Conventions, which mandate humane treatment. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported frequent difficulties accessing all Iranian camps to monitor the welfare of prisoners of war.
Recent reports also highlight several systematic practices, such as transferring some captives to undisclosed locations and leaving families without any information for weeks or months. Iran International.
Later in early March 2026, security forces reportedly used tear gas in prison wards, including Mahabad Prison, to suppress protests by panicking inmates during nearby airstrikes. PMOI.
