MINAB, Iran — An airstrike that hit a girls’ elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab killed at least 165 people, Iranian authorities and state media said, as U.S. officials said they were reviewing reports of civilian harm and Israel said it was not aware of an operation in the area, March 1, 2026. The strike, which Iran linked to a broader U.S.-Israel campaign, has triggered an international outcry while key details — including targeting and the final toll — remain difficult to independently verify because of limited access and communications restrictions.
Iranian state media and officials said the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school was struck during the Feb. 28 escalation and that many of the dead were children, with additional wounded reported. International reporting has cited varying casualty figures and noted that verification has been limited; a separate account said Iran’s mission to the United Nations and Iranian media described the toll as exceeding 150 at points during the first day of reporting. ABC News reported Iran’s government said 165 people at the school were dead as of Sunday, while The Washington Post reported Iranian officials and diplomats blamed U.S.-Israeli strikes and said the attack happened while classes were in session.
Minab girls school strike: what Iran says happened
Iranian officials said the school building was destroyed in the strike and that rescue teams and residents searched through rubble for survivors. Iranian accounts have also pointed to the school’s proximity to a security-related site as a possible factor in why the area was hit, though Iran has described the strike as an unlawful attack on civilians and a protected educational facility.
Outside Iran, coverage has highlighted uncertainty about the chain of events that led to the strike and whether it was a targeting error or involved intelligence that linked the area to military activity. Time magazine’s account said the Israeli military denied knowledge of any strike in that area and that the Pentagon acknowledged it was investigating reports of civilian casualties, while noting that death-toll estimates varied across sources.
U.S. reviews civilian-harm reports; Israel says it was unaware
U.S. officials have not confirmed striking a school in Minab but have said they were aware of civilian-harm reports connected to ongoing operations and were reviewing them. Israel has said it was “not aware” of an Israeli operation in the area tied to the reported school strike, according to an aggregated report that cited wire coverage. Al Jazeera reported Iranian officials said the death toll at the Minab school rose to 165, and separate reporting has described Israel’s response as a denial of knowledge of any operation there.
Iran’s government has used the incident to reinforce its claims that civilians and critical infrastructure are being hit during the wider campaign, while U.S. and Israeli officials have emphasized, in general terms, the importance of minimizing civilian harm. With access constrained and competing narratives hardening, independent confirmation of the strike’s precise circumstances and the full casualty list remains limited.
Minab girls school strike and the wider pattern of attacks on education
Humanitarian and education groups have long warned that attacks near schools — and the military use of education facilities — can sharply increase risks to children. UNESCO has reported a surge in attacks on education globally and warned that the trend undermines the right to learn and places students and teachers in danger. UNESCO said in a 2024 analysis that thousands of attacks on students, educators and education sites were recorded worldwide in 2022-2023.
Past conflicts have produced similarly disputed, high-casualty incidents involving children and schooling. In Yemen, Human Rights Watch described the 2018 strike on a bus carrying boys as an apparent war crime and tied it to a broader record of civilian harm. Human Rights Watch’s 2018 report called for accountability and stricter controls on arms transfers amid repeated civilian deaths.
During the 2014 Gaza war, Reuters reported that Israeli shelling killed Palestinians sheltering in a U.N.-run school, an incident that drew condemnation and competing claims about military activity nearby. Reuters’ July 2014 report described the deaths at the U.N. site and the widening humanitarian toll as fighting continued.
What comes next
Iran has demanded international condemnation and accountability for the Minab strike and says the death toll could rise as recovery work continues. U.S. officials say they are assessing civilian-harm reports, and Israel says it was unaware of any operation in the area linked to the school.
Absent independent access to the site and a shared account of what happened, the next signals to watch will be whether Washington releases results from any civilian-harm review, whether Israel provides operational details that clarify what forces were active near Minab, and whether international bodies can verify the toll and circumstances on the ground.
