TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday issued a blistering condemnation of a U.S. missile strike on a girls’ elementary school, describing the deadly incident as a “calculated” assault rather than a tragic mistake.
Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council via video link, Araghchi stated that the February 28 strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab constituted a “war crime and a crime against humanity.” His remarks come nearly a month after the attack, which occurred during the opening wave of U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran.
A “Phased Assault”
Araghchi rejected preliminary findings from U.S. military investigators suggesting the school was hit due to “stale intelligence” that misidentified the civilian building as part of an adjacent military base.
“This was a calculated, phased assault,” Araghchi told the council. “The United States’ contradictory remarks aimed at justifying their crime could not, in any manner, elude their responsibility.”
UN Rights Chief Volker Türk echoed the horror of the event, noting the bombing “evoked a visceral horror” and called for a transparent, impartial investigation. While the Pentagon has elevated its internal probe, Araghchi demanded “unequivocal condemnation” from the international community, asserting that the lives of Iranian children must not be met with “silence and indifference.
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