Iran says 165 killed in Israeli strike on girls' elementary school in southern Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote, “These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered.”
![This image grab taken from Iranian state television broadcast on 28 February 2026, shows what it says is the site of deadly US and Israeli strikes that hit a girls' elementary school in Minab, in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan near the strategic sea route of the Strait of Hormuz [Screen grab/IRIB TV via AFP]](https://tbsnews.net/sites/default/files/styles/big_3/public/images/2026/03/02/southern_iran.png)
The death toll from an Israeli strike on a girls' elementary school in southern Iran has risen to 165, Iranian state media reported.
Quoting the local prosecutor of Minab, state news agency IRNA said yesterday (2 March) that 96 others were injured in the attack on Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls' Elementary School in Minab, a city in Hormozgan province.
The strike took place amid a large-scale United States-Israeli offensive launched on Saturday morning.
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This is part of a wave of military attacks across Iran that has triggered an outbreak of regional violence.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shared a photo of the attack, which he said destroyed the girls' school and killed "innocent children"
Araghchi wrote, "These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered," in a post on X.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also slammed the "blatant crime" and urged action from the United Nations Security Council, reports Al Jazeera.
Iran's Mehr news agency reported that at least two students were killed by another Israeli attack that hit a school east of the capital, Tehran, in another report.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall said the attacks call into question US and Israeli claims that "they are targeting only military targets and they are trying to punish the regime, not the people of Iran".
"US President Donald Trump has promised the Iranian people that aid or help is coming their way, but now we are seeing civilian casualties. That's something that the Iranian government will stress as a case of violation of international law and an aggression against the Iranian people," said Vall.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The US military said it was looking into the reports.
Footage circulating on social media showed a man clutching the remains of a child, which he said were those of a six- or seven-year-old, as he accused the US and Israel of war crimes.
The last time the US and Israel waged attacks on Iran in the 12-day war last June 2025, the civilian toll in Iran was also heavy.
According to Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, thousands of civilians were killed or injured, and public infrastructure was damaged, during that conflict.
