Minab School Strike Kills 160 Students

Iran has accused the United States and Israel of killing 160 schoolgirls in a February 28 strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab, escalating the diplomatic and legal stakes of an already widening conflict. The claim, advanced by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, centers on a single site in Hormozgan province and frames the episode as evidence of civilian targeting during joint operations.

According to Iranian authorities, 160 young girls were killed when the school was struck. Families, the account states, dug through the rubble "with bare hands" in an attempt to reach their children. The students had gone to school for classes before the attack. Tehran says all 160 were later buried. No independent casualty assessment was cited in the source text.

In a social media post, Araghchi displayed freshly dug graves and wrote: “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. He added “This is how ‘rescue’ promised by Mr. Trump looks in reality.”

Araghchi further stated: “From Gaza to Minab, innocents murdered in cold blood.” The formulation links the February 28 Minab strike to broader regional hostilities, though the source text provides no operational detail on munitions, delivery systems, or the sequence of strikes. The date—February 28—and the location—Minab in Hormozgan province—are the only specific operational markers cited.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) criticized the February 28 attack, stating that a strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab constituted a violation of international law. The organization’s reaction focuses on the protected status of educational facilities during armed conflict. The source text does not detail whether UNESCO referenced specific legal instruments or conventions.