TEHRAN – Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs, Zahra Behrouz-Azar, has called on the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) office in Iran to condemn the Israeli military attacks against Iran and pursue the violation of children’s rights during the 12-day aggression.

In a letter to the UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell,  the official also asked for activating Article 45 (c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which allows the Committee to delve deeper into particular areas of concern and generate evidence-based recommendations, to investigate the case, IRNA reported.

Over 126 women, including pregnant ones, and over 40 children were martyred in the bombardment of residential areas and destruction of houses, Behrouz-Azar said.

Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures, Israel has violated Article 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter, the official further noted.

Israel, as a country that has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, has also violated the principles and articles 3, 6, 19, 20, 24, and 38, as well as principles of Distinction and Proportionality, Behrouz-Azar added.

The silence of the international institutions would encourage criminals. The world should not be indifferent to the killing of children.  UNICEF, as an institution responsible for defending children’s rights, has to fulfill its responsibility.

The war between Israel and Iran commenced on June 13 and came to a halt on June 24.

Some 1,062 martyred, 5,800 wounded 

Head of Iran’s Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation, Saeed Ohadi, confirmed on Monday that at least 1,062 people were killed during Israel’s 12-day military aggression against Iran, with 5,800 others wounded.

Speaking at a Tehran press conference, Ohadi said 47 children and two pregnant women are among the martyrs. 32 Iranian families endured multiple losses, with one family losing 12 members.  

To expedite identification, Ohadi announced the establishment of a “DNA diagnostics center,” resolving cases within 24 hours, alongside the newly inaugurated Ma’raj martyrs’ facility at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery. Currently, 24 bodies remain unidentified there.

The foundation’s Director spotlighted heartrending narratives, including the martyrdom of two-month-old Rayan Ghasemian and the Behnamabadi family—where a mother and three children perished—as evidence that “martyrs like these had no connection to nuclear facilities.”

On June 13, the Israeli regime carried out a flagrant, unprovoked offensive against Iran, killing numerous senior military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians.

A week later, on June 22, the United States escalated the conflict with its own airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

By June 24, Iran’s retaliatory operations against both Israel and the U.S. had successfully compelled a halt to the unlawful assaults.

MT/MG