Iranian Agency Publishes Photos of 119 Children Killed in School Strike

The Iranian news agency Tasnim has published a photograph showing the faces of children killed in a missile strike on a school in the city of Minab, Iran, on February 28. The image, released on Saturday, March 7, is captioned "All the student martyrs of Minab school in one frame."

According to Iranian authorities, the strike targeted the Shajare Tayyeb girls' school during a series of attacks by the United States and Israel on sites within Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that at least 171 students were killed in the attack. The Tasnim agency reported that no fewer than 14 teachers and school staff also died.

On Tuesday, March 3, the bodies of 168 students were buried in Hormozgan province. Thousands gathered in the streets of Minab for the funeral procession. Mourners dressed in black carried coffins through the city's streets and squares.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for an immediate and impartial investigation into the school strike. Türk emphasized that "the responsibility to investigate lies with the forces that carried out the attack."

Separate reporting has suggested the strike on the school may have been part of a US Air Force operation against a nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base.

Kazakhstan's Minister of Education, Zhuldyz Suleimenova, reacted to news of the deaths by calling it an "irreparable loss for humanity." In a statement posted on her official Facebook page, she expressed deep sorrow over reports that 160 schoolgirls had been killed.