Families Grieve Six Months After Deadly Strike on Iranian School

At least 155 people, most of them children, were killed when a strike hit the Shajareh Tayebeh school in the southern Iranian city of Minab during the opening hours of the US Israel war with Iran. The event is reported as the deadliest strike yet reported by Iran. Six months after the attack, the school remains largely in ruins and authorities say it will be preserved as a memorial. Search operations have continued for three children who remain missing.

Iran states that the attack involved two separate US Tomahawk missiles. While neither the United States nor Israel has officially claimed responsibility, rights groups including Amnesty International and reports from The New York Times have attributed the strike to a US Tomahawk cruise missile. Since an April ceasefire, intense bombardments have largely stopped, although diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled.

Survivors and parents describe scenes of extreme devastation. One father, Javad Shahrjou, reported that children were in pieces and that his seven year old son was recovered three days later. Another parent, Yaghoub Yazdanpanah, recalled seeing human flesh scattered by the blast. Masoumeh Zakeri, whose nine year old daughter Motahreh was killed, said her daughter was identified only by her earrings and bracelet.