TEHRAN- The International Six-Word Story Award: Minab School – 168 Unfinished Short Stories was officially launched on Sunday.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Seyyed Abbas Salehi, unveiled the event's poster during his visit to the 7th Tehran Virtual Book Fair, marking the start of a global literary initiative dedicated to keeping the memory of the victims alive through the power of minimalist storytelling, IRNA reported. 

The literary event aims to foster creativity in micro-narratives while providing a platform for expressing human experiences through a concise and impactful lens, the report added. 

The award’s title, "168 Unfinished Short Stories," serves as a tribute to the lives lost in the Minab school tragedy, framing each victim as a story left incomplete.

The call for submissions invites writers, literary enthusiasts, and storytellers from across the globe to submit works that adhere to the six-word story format. This genre challenges participants to craft narratives that, despite their brevity, carry deep emotional weight and leave a lasting impression on the reader's mind.

According to the organizers, the themes of the competition include the Minab school incident, universal human concepts such as war, peace, hope, and suffering, as well as children's rights and patriotism.

The secretariat of the award has announced that each participant may submit a maximum of six entries. Submissions must be accompanied by the author’s personal details and contact information. 

The deadline for submitting entries is set for July 22. Following the deadline, a panel of distinguished domestic and international judges will evaluate the submissions. The winners will be honored at a closing ceremony, where they will receive trophies, honorary diplomas, and significant cash prizes.

By launching this international initiative, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance seeks to utilize the power of minimalist literature to keep the memory of the Minab tragedy alive and to promote a global dialogue on peace and the protection of children in times of conflict.

On February 28, the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, became the site of a devastating massacre as the United States and Israel initiated their strikes against Iran. 

While dozens of girls and boys aged between 7 and 12 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. Iranian authorities confirmed a final death toll of 168 people, with at least 95 others wounded, marking one of the most harrowing incidents of the conflict's opening day.

Despite attempts by US and Israeli authorities to distance themselves from the carnage as images of the tragedy spread across social media, detailed forensic and digital investigations have painted a starkly different picture. 

An analysis by Al Jazeera’s digital investigations unit, utilizing over a decade of satellite imagery and recent video clips, revealed that the school was a clearly distinct civilian facility, separated from any adjacent military sites for at least ten years. Furthermore, witness accounts and satellite-based analyses confirmed that the school was triple tapped by three separate, deliberate strikes, leaving no doubt about the nature of the attack.

The international community has faced mounting evidence regarding the responsibility for this atrocity, with investigations from major global outlets including The New York Times, BBC Verify, CBC, and NPR all concluding that the United States was responsible for the strike. 

These findings have raised fundamental questions about the intelligence used to justify the bombing, as the patterns of the strike suggest a direct targeting of a civilian educational institution. The Minab school tragedy now stands as a somber testament to the immense human cost of the aggression and a focal point for those demanding international accountability.

SAB/