TEHRAN – Following the U.S.-Israeli aggression to Iran, which started on February 28, several international academics and cultural figures have reacted to the issue on social media, condemning the attacks.

Iran and the U.S. had agreed to attend a fourth round of nuclear talks in Vienna, following their most serious discussions in Geneva. However, the U.S. derailed diplomatic negotiations with Iran just like the previous time in June 2025, launching a bombing campaign against Iran in conjunction with Israel.

Over 1,000 people have so far been martyred in the attacks including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several military commanders as well as civilians, among them women and children.

The attacks prompted a swift response from the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), with missile and drone launches targeting Israel and several U.S. bases in the region, occurring less than two hours after the strikes, which have been intensified in recent days.

Tim Anderson, Australian university professor and director of the Center for Counter Hegemonic Studies, wrote: “I want to express my condemnation and my grief and anger at the attacks by the Israeli and U.S. criminals on the Islamic Republic of Iran and the brutality and bombing of the people of Iran, in particular the bombing of the school in Minab.

Maria Morigi, Italian writer and scholar of the history of religions, wrote: “In this painful moment, when the brute force of arms and Israeli-Zionist colonial barbarism prevail, I feel close to the Iranian people and their institutions”.

Heba Smith, president of the Association of Muslim Women of Uruguay FATIMA ZAHRA (AS) wrote: “There is no worse attack than that perpetrated against childhood. We condemn the attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran by the American imperialist regime and the Zionist regime”.

“As we listen to the news in various media outlets, which transmit worrying reports regarding the deaths, injuries, material damage, and human rights violations, we express our utmost solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” she continued.

Mohammad Sadegh Al-Heshemi, director of the Iraq Studies Center, wrote: “What the United States and the Israeli regime have committed against the Iranian nation - massacring children and deliberately targeting civilian sectors, including hospitals and medical centers - constitutes the most heinous crime against humanity. It starkly reveals the barbarity of the enemies and their utter disregard for moral and human values”.

Irish actor Liam Cunnigham, wrote: “The massacre of the girl elementary school pupils (ages 8 to 12) in Iran, now stands at one hundred and eighty-five. Any person attempting to justify this unprovoked obscenity is a psychopath”.

He was referring to the tragic incident that happened at the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan Province. On February 28, while dozens of students were beginning their lessons, the school was targeted by a missile strike that caused the building to collapse, trapping children and teachers beneath the rubble.

SS/SAB