TEHRAN- The Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran is hosting an event dedicated to the martyred students of Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, southern Hormozgan province. 

The five-day event, titled "Absence Presence," was inaugurated on Monday and is being held in collaboration with the Iranian House of Cinema, House of Theater, and House of Music, Mehr reported. 

The event is taking place every evening at 7:30 p.m. in the open-air courtyard of the IAF, the report added. 

The program features musical performances, street theater, and various artistic presentations by renowned artists, offering audiences a different experience each night.

This initiative is being organized in cooperation with the IAF and Tehran Municipality’s District 6, with support from the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture.

On February 28, the Shajareh Tayyebeh 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/