Thousands of people took to the streets of the southern Iranian city of Minab to mourn those killed in an airstrike on a primary school, which claimed the lives of dozens of children and school staff, Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations said.
According to Iranian authorities, at least 175 people were killed when the strike hit the Shajareh Tayebeh girls’ primary school in the city of Minab on Saturday, many of them children.
On Tuesday, participants in the mourning ceremonies wept, pressed their hands to their hearts, prayed, raised their arms in anguish and clenched their fists. Some held printed photographs of small children, while others scattered flower petals.
Drone footage distributed by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency and verified by international media shows a procession of people carrying coffins—some of them adorned with photographs of small children.
Saturday is the first day of the school week in Iran. Video footage recorded after the strike and verified by multiple major news organizations shows that one side of the building partially collapsed—windows blown out and walls shattered. Images circulated by Iranian media also show brightly colored children’s backpacks stained with blood.
“The killing of students in a place meant for learning constitutes a grave violation of the protection afforded to schools under international humanitarian law,” UNESCO—the United Nations agency responsible for education—said in a statement.
Photographs published by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and distributed by the Associated Press show people using excavators and other machinery to dig graves.
No country or armed force has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to satellite imagery and open-source material, the school was located near a site that had previously been part of a naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC is considered a key component of Iran’s armed forces.
On the day the first strikes were reported, the U.S. military said it was “reviewing” reports of an attack on the school. By Wednesday, no further comment had been provided.
