The UNESCO has denounced the bombing of a girls’ primary school in southern Iran as a serious breach of international humanitarian law, after a deadly strike reportedly killed and wounded scores of students.
According to Iranian state media, a joint US-Israeli missile attack struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, in Hormozgan province, on Saturday. The death toll has risen to 165 people, while 96 others were injured, the city’s prosecutor told the state news agency IRNA. Many of those killed are believed to be schoolchildren.
In a statement posted on social media, UNESCO expressed deep alarm over the continued military operations and their impact on civilians, stressing that schools are protected under international humanitarian law. The agency said attacks on educational institutions endanger students and teachers and undermine the fundamental right to education.
UNESCO joined other United Nations bodies and senior officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, in condemning both the US-Israeli strikes and Iran’s retaliatory attacks across the region.
The strike on the Minab school was part of a wider wave of US-Israeli military operations launched across Iran on Saturday, escalating tensions and sparking regional violence.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi shared an image of the damaged school, saying the attack killed “innocent children” and warning that such actions would not go unanswered.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the incident as a “blatant crime” and called on the United Nations Security Council to take action.
Separately, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that another Israeli strike hit a school east of Tehran, killing at least two students.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Vall said the school attacks challenge US and Israeli assertions that their operations are limited to military targets rather than civilians.