Iran has held mass burial ceremonies for scores of schoolgirls and others killed in a devastating strike on an elementary school in the southern city of Minab, according to Iranian officials and state media reports. Iranian authorities say the attack, which occurred on Saturday morning during a joint wave of military operations by the United States and Israel, hit the Shajareh Tayabeh girls’ elementary school while classes were in session, killing scores of pupils and staff.
Iranian state media and officials reported that emergency services and local volunteers recovered the wreckage over several days, with the final death toll standing at around 165, most of them schoolchildren, and nearly 100 others wounded.
Crowds of mourners gathered in Minab to bid farewell to the victims, many of them young girls, as coffins draped with national flags were laid to rest. Officials and family members condemned the attack, with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi describing the incident as a “crime” and vowing accountability for those responsible.
Iranian government sources have attributed the strike to U.S. and Israeli military action, asserting that the bombing was part of broader joint attacks against targets in Iran that began earlier that day. U.S. and Israeli officials have denied deliberately targeting the school while acknowledging ongoing military operations in the region and saying they are looking into reports of civilian harm.
International bodies have reacted with alarm. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization condemned the attack as a serious breach of international humanitarian law protecting schools, warning that “attacks against educational institutions endanger students and teachers and undermine the right to education.” Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai also expressed heartbreak, stating that “the killing of civilians, especially children, is unconscionable.”
The tragedy has drawn calls for impartial investigation and de-escalation. The United Nations human rights office urged those involved to conduct a thorough and transparent inquiry into the circumstances of the incident, stressing that such attacks must be fully examined to determine their legality and the identity of those responsible.
The strike on the Minab school occurred amid a wider conflict that erupted after joint military operations by the U.S. and Israel against Iranian targets. Iranian military and allied forces have since launched retaliatory strikes across the region, significantly escalating hostilities and heightening fears of a broader war with dramatic humanitarian consequences.
AL JAZEERA