By Al-Fassel | 2025-10-29

A secret underground prison recently discovered in Syria’s Homs province has shed new light on the deep involvement of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Assad regime’s torture and repression apparatus.

The hidden facility, uncovered this month, stands as a chilling testament to years of systematic abuse – implicating both Syrian intelligence and their Iranian backers in the disappearance and torture of civilians opposed to the regime.

Located north of the village of Buwaydah al-Salamiyah in Homs, the underground prison was unearthed by Syrian security officials during targeted patrols aimed at uncovering remnants of Assad-era secret facilities.

Omar al-Moussa, the deputy director of Homs’ Al-Mukharram district, described the site as an "underground hideout sealed behind a locked iron door," where police found torture tools such as sticks and ropes.

The site connects to a tunnel roughly 40 meters long and five meters deep, al-Moussa told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

He said that the layout hints at a larger network of covert detention sites designed for "the clandestine and inhuman activities conducted within."

Books and publications linked to militias backed by Assad’s regime were also recovered.

IRGC’s critical role

Multiple interviews with former detainees and leaked testimony compiled by regional investigators describe underground prisons, some disguised as Syrian-run facilities.

Interrogations in these sites included electric shocks, severe beatings, and other methods that survivors say were carried out by or under the supervision of Iranian-affiliated forces.

One former detainee, identified by researchers under a pseudonym, described being taken to "an underground prison" and recalled the first terrifying thought: "I will not survive."

Investigations by North Press list several secret sites across Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Palmyra, and Damascus allegedly linked to Iranian units.

These fortified underground cells were reportedly used to conceal detainees from their families and independent monitors, operating in parallel to official Syrian state prisons.

Survivor testimony provides the most harrowing detail.

Former detainees recount prolonged beatings, electric shocks, and psychological torment -- methods consistent with decades of documentation on Syrian prisons.

In some cases, survivors named Iranian personnel or Iran-backed militia figures as part of the guard and interrogation apparatus.

Human Rights Watch and other investigators have cataloged similar techniques across torture centers run by intelligence branches, demonstrating the systematic nature of the abuse.

"They tortured me like this three times over three days," one survivor told Human Rights Watch, describing methods that match accounts from sites believed to be under Iranian control.

The discovery of this underground prison not only revives long-held allegations of Iran’s direct involvement in Assad’s repression but also underscores the enduring machinery of fear that continues to haunt post-war Syria.