Outrage as Iran Buries 165 Schoolgirls Killed in Minab Strike, US and Israel Deny Targeting School

Thousands of mourners gathered in the southern Iranian city of Minab for a mass funeral ceremony for 165 schoolgirls and staff killed in what Tehran has described as a joint United States-Israeli airstrike on a girls’ school.

Iranian state television broadcast images of large crowds filling a public square, with men waving the national flag of the Islamic Republic while women, clad in black chadors, stood in separate sections. From a stage overlooking the mourners, a grieving mother who identified herself as the parent of a victim named Atena held up what she called “a document of American crimes” — printed portraits of the deceased.

“They died in the way of God,” she said, as the crowd chanted slogans against the United States and Israel and shouted, “No surrender.”

Tehran has blamed Washington and Tel Aviv for the attack, which it described as the deadliest single incident since the escalation of hostilities. However, the Israel Defense Forces said it was not aware of any Israeli or US strike in the area.

The violence comes amid an intensifying military campaign involving US and Israeli forces against Iran. US President Donald Trump said the new leadership in Tehran had been targeted, as the overall death toll in Iran reportedly rose to 787.

At the same time, Israeli forces expanded operations beyond Iran, escalating airstrikes in Lebanon and launching a new ground incursion in the country’s south, vowing to dismantle Hezbollah.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, accused Washington and Tel Aviv of killing innocent civilians. In a post on X, he 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.”

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

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied that the United States would deliberately target a school. “The United States would not deliberately target a school,” Rubio told reporters, adding that any such allegation would be investigated if US forces were responsible.

The tragedy has drawn international condemnation. The UNESCO and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai criticised the reported attack. The UN human rights office called for “a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation” into the circumstances surrounding the strike.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said there was insufficient information to determine whether the strike constituted a war crime but described the situation as “absolutely horrific.”

Under international humanitarian law, deliberately targeting schools, hospitals or other civilian infrastructure is considered a war crime.

Meanwhile, European Union and Gulf state foreign ministers are expected to hold emergency talks by videolink as diplomatic efforts intensify to contain the widening Middle East conflict