Command Palette

Search for a command to run...

Browse

Airstrike on Minab Girls’ School in Iran Kills 148 Amid U.S.-Israeli Offensive

Airstrike on Minab Girls’ School in Iran Kills 148 Amid U.S.-Israeli Offensive
Click to expand

An airstrike on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran killed at least 148 people, most of them children, Iranian authorities said Sunday, as the death toll from the blast in the city of Minab continued to rise amid a wider U.S.–Israeli offensive against the country.bbc +1 Iranian officials blamed the attack on joint U.S. and Israeli forces; Washington and Jerusalem had not confirmed responsibility for the school strike.

The explosion hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ primary school in Minab, in Hormozgan province, on Saturday, 28 February, during large-scale air raids targeting sites across Iran.wanaen +1 Local prosecutors and health officials said scores of pupils were killed when the building collapsed, with the semi-official Tasnim news agency reporting on 1 March that 148 people had died and 95 were injured.ft +1 Independent media including the BBC and The New York Times verified videos showing the school reduced to rubble and frantic rescue efforts, but said they could not independently confirm the final casualty figures because of restricted access and communications blackouts inside Iran.nationthailand +1

How the School Was Hit and What Is Known So Far

Iran’s judiciary and provincial officials said the school was struck in the morning while classes were in session, leaving classrooms packed with young girls buried under debris.bbc +1 A local prosecutor quoted in Iranian and international reports said at least 108 people were initially confirmed dead before the toll climbed as more bodies were recovered.bbc +1

The school lies roughly 600 metres from a base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to BBC reporting, a proximity likely to fuel debate over whether nearby military infrastructure was being targeted.nationthailand U.S. and Israeli officials have described the broader campaign as focused on Iranian military, nuclear and leadership sites, but have not publicly addressed the specific Minab strike; a U.S. military spokesperson said only that the incident was being “looked into.”facebook +1 No independent international investigation had been announced as of Sunday.

Domestic Outrage and Global Diplomatic Fallout

Inside Iran, the blast deepened national shock already triggered by the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in earlier strikes the same day.dhakatribune President Masoud Pezeshkian called the school bombing a “barbaric act” and “another black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors,” vowing that “these crimes against the Iranian people will not go unanswered.”bbc +1 A Health Ministry spokesman, describing overwhelmed hospitals, said, “God knows how many more children will be pulled out of the rubble.”english

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations told the Security Council that more than 100 children died in Minab and accused the United States and Israel of violating the UN Charter.english +1 UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the air campaign and urged an immediate return to negotiations, while several governments, including Russia, denounced the strikes and warned of a spiralling regional war.madhyamamonline +1

The Bigger Picture

The Minab school tragedy crystallized fears that the new U.S.–Israeli offensive on Iran, already unprecedented in scale and impact, was exacting a devastating toll on civilians, especially children.wanaen +1 With independent verification hampered by access restrictions and information controls, competing narratives over responsibility and intent are likely to harden, even as families search morgues and rubble for missing daughters. Whether international pressure yields a credible investigation—and whether any findings alter the conduct of the warring parties—will shape not only accountability for this strike but also the trajectory of a conflict that has abruptly entered a far more dangerous phase.