TEHRAN - The chief of the Islamic Studies at the Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran has criticized countries' silence about the massacre of 167 students and staff in a school in the city of Minab in southern Iran in the early hours of the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran on Feb. 28.

“Why should governments remain silent while, before the eyes of the world, 167 innocent children are killed in a primary school? History will not forget the silence of these governments; this is a devastating blow to the morality of mankind," Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad told IRNA in an interview.

The missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab has been described as a war crime and crime against humanity.

"How can governments allow 167 innocent children to be killed in school while the world remains silent? History will not forget this blow to human morality. We are witnessing a moral collapse," the Islamic philosopher remarked.

Five former U.S. officials, including a former top military lawyer, have criticized the Pentagon for not acknowledging potential American involvement in the deadly strike on the school. Some of those officials said it was highly unusual not to release even basic details of the strike after such a length of time, BBC reported on Wednesday.

The current US position "strikingly departs from the standard response," said Lt Col Rachel E VanLandingham, a retired Judge Advocate General in the US Air Force and former senior legal adviser at U.S. Central Command during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was grilled on Wednesday and Thursday for the war of aggression against Iran. He faced a litany of questions, including attacks on schools, particularly the one in Minab, health centers, residential areas, etc.

"Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one and so has the president," said Rep. John Garamendi, who called the war "a geopolitical calamity," a "strategic blunder" and a "self-inflicted wound to America."

"Muslims are the founders of human rights"

In his interview with IRNA, Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad also discussed his long history of correspondence with the Vatican, providing a religious and epistemological perspective on the status of human rights according to Islamic teachings.

"I have maintained a relationship and frequent communication with the Vatican and its Popes for nearly four decades," the ayatollah noted. "I was closely acquainted with John Paul II. After his passing, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a speech in which he attacked Islam, claiming it was a religion spread by the sword and imposed on people by force. In response, I sent him a detailed letter in English titled The Secret of Islam's Allure via the Vatican embassy.

"In that letter, I politely suggested that the Pope deepen his study of Islam. I provided a report on the great philosophers and thinkers throughout history who converted to Islam. I asked him: Did these great figures truly turn to Islam because of the sword, or is there an inherent 'secret of allure' within Islam that draws hearts toward it?"

Following the letter, Pope Benedict sent his advisor on Middle Eastern affairs to meet with Mohaghegh Damad. The advisor conveyed the Pope’s admission that the ayatollah was correct, offering an apology and acknowledging that his studies of Islam had been insufficient.

"A few months later," he continued, "the Synod—an assembly of top-tier Christian bishops—was held at the Vatican. The Pope personally invited me to deliver a speech on the relationship between Shia Islam and Christianity," the religious philosopher clarified.

Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad went on to say that his relationship with Benedict deepened until he resigned.

"He was succeeded by Pope Francis, a humble man who selected eight individuals as advisors for different religions. I was chosen as the Shia advisor. I have spoken at climate change conferences regarding the environment from an Islamic perspective," he explained.

"When Pope Francis was elected, I sent him a message of congratulations. Later, when certain international crises arose, I felt that a religious leader like the Pope must take a stand. I wrote to him, noting the immense efforts humanity has made to outlaw war and aggression, and I asked him to advise Mr. Trump against committing such acts of aggression."

President Trump insulted Pope Leo XIV in response to his criticisms of the war against Iran and appeals for peace. Trump’s rant against Pope Leo drew a backlash from certain world leaders and religious scholars across the world.  

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned Trump's tirade against the Pope. Meloni said in a statement that she finds Trump's comments on the Pope "unacceptable."

Mohaghegh Damad also addressed his outreach to the Sunni world about the U.S. crimes against Iranians in the unprovoked and illegal war.

"I wrote a letter to Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. His stance is very interesting to the Shia world. However, the content of my letter to him differed from the one I sent to the Pope. While I asked the Pope to advise Trump, I asked Ahmed el-Tayeb to lead a movement where all Islamic scholars take a unified stand against aggression, murder, bloodshed, and the killing of children… I am still awaiting a response that, at the very least, condemns this aggression."

The ayatollah also said Muslims should be the primary claimants of human rights.

"It is not the case that the West founded human rights, and we are merely following them. The Prophet of Islam (PBUH) was the first to establish the foundations of human rights principles," the religious scholar noted.

He referenced the Quran (Surah Al-Hujurat, Verse 13), which discusses the unity of the human family. "While the specific phrase 'human rights' may not appear verbatim in the words of the Prophet or the Quran, it is similar to how the term is absent from the writings of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant—yet he is called the father of human rights because he proposed the concept of 'human dignity'. I believe the Holy Quran introduced inherent dignity for mankind long ago. In Surah Al-Furqan, it is suggested that a human's awareness of their inherent dignity is the axis for avoiding all moral evils."

He emphasized two central pillars in Islamic literature: The unity of the human family (the idea that all humans share the same parents) and the principle of dignity, which is the source of freedom, the right to life, and brotherhood.

The scholar believes that it is necessary to use “Islamic literature” to promote human rights in the world.

"We must use Islamic literature to champion these rights globally. My doctoral thesis in international law, which was published as a book in the United States, titled The Protection of Civilians during Armed Conflict from the Perspective of International Law and Islamic Law, is a comparative study. In it, I compare Islamic mandates on who is immune during war—citizens, clergy, cultural centers, mosques, children, and the sick—with the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the 1977 protocols," he stated.

"The moral decline of Western governments"

Elsewhere in his remarks, Mohaghegh Damad said the West’s blind support for Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians has damaged the reputation of Western governments.  

Support for Israel’s genocidal war against Gazans by the United States and some European countries, including Germany, has made them an accomplice in the conflict. 

"Today, the West—specifically Western governments—has brought shame upon humanity," the Ayatollah stated. The current actions of the U.S. government in Gaza and Palestine in support of the Zionist regime have tarnished the West’s reputation, as one of its greatest prides was the defense of human rights."

The ayatollah went on to say that the Zionist regime controls much of the global media, making it vital for others to speak out.

"I have called upon all thinkers and academics to connect with their peers worldwide. They must remind the world that silence in the face of such crimes is a historical disgrace. After World War II, humanity took pride in the 1948 Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter. Today, that pride is being erased. If the world’s thinkers remain silent, it means they acquiesce to this moral failure."

He also addressed the inefficiency of international bodies, saying, "While human rights organizations seem powerless, the United Nations could be effective, yet it remains silent. This is a profound failure of the UN. On the other hand, thinkers can voice their outrage, much like Spain did regarding Trump’s actions. The Pope’s stance will not be forgotten; it proves that morality is still alive in the Vatican."