Iran buries 165 schoolgirls killed in alleged US-Israel strike

Iran on Saturday held a mass funeral for 165 schoolgirls and members of staff who were killed in what the country described as a joint United States-Israeli attack on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab.

Iranian authorities said the victims died after the school was hit during ongoing military strikes. The incident has sparked anger across the country, with large crowds gathering to mourn the children and teachers laid to rest.

However, the Israeli military denied carrying out any operation in that location. It said it was not aware of any Israeli or American attack in the Minab area.

The development comes as US and Israeli forces continue their offensive against Iran. US President Donald Trump said the new leadership in Tehran has been targeted in the operation.

Meanwhile, the death toll across Iran has continued to rise, with reports putting the number of people killed so far at 787.

Similarly, the Israeli army intensified air attacks on Lebanon and launched a new ground incursion into the country’s south vowing to destroy Hezbollah.

This comes as President Trump, voiced dissatisfaction with North Atlanti Treaty Organisation, NATO, allied hesitation in the ongoing war with Iran, even as he blasted UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, as not being helpful over Iran, saying that he (Starmer) had damaged the “special relationship”.

Meanwhile, EU and Gulf State foreign ministers are set to hold talks by videolink tomorrow, on the war in the Middle East.

Iranian state television, yesterday showed thousands of people filling a public square in Minab. Men waved the Islamic Republic flag while largely standing apart from women draped in black chadors.

From the stage, a woman who said she was the mother of “Atena” held up a printed image of portraits that she called “a document of American crimes.”

She added, “They died in the way of God.”

The crowd erupted into chants against the policies of the US and Israel and shouted “No surrender.”

The attack took place on Saturday after the US and Israel announced joint strikes on Iran, marking the deadliest incident in the war against Tehran so far, targeting civilians.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday accused the US and Israel of killing the schoolgirls.

“These are graves being dug for more than 160 innocent young girls who were killed in the US-Israeli bombing of a primary school. Their bodies were torn to shreds,” Araghchi wrote on X, alongside an image of newly dug graves.

“This is how ‘rescue’ promised by Mr Trump looks in reality. From Gaza to Minab, innocents murdered in cold blood.”

Authorities in Tehran have called for international action and solidarity after several hospitals and schools were impacted by United States and Israeli air strikes on the country as Iran continues to fire missiles and drones across the region.

The incident has been condemned by the United Nations Culture and Education Agency, UNESCO and Nobel Peace Prize-winning education activist, Malala Yousafzai.

The UN human rights office called for “a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack.”

Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the office of the High Commissioner Volker Turk did not have enough information to determine whether the strike constituted a war crime.

“This is absolutely horrific,” Shamdasani said, adding that images circulating on social media captured “the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict.”

Deliberately attacking an educational institution, hospital, or any other civilian structure is a war crime under international humanitarian law.

“The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday when asked about the incident.

“The United States would not deliberately target a school,” he claimed.

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