TEHRAN - Global outrage has intensified following the deadly strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran — Shajareh Tayyebah elementary school in Minab, a city in Hormozgan Province — where nearly 170 students were killed in a joint U.S.–Israeli attack. The scale of the tragedy has shocked the international community and sparked widespread condemnation.

International organizations, foreign officials, and even some outspoken social media activists who oppose the Islamic Republic have forcefully condemned the strike.

“The Minab school incident has no comparison with any other incident,” said the head of Iran’s Red Crescent on Sunday. “Even in Gaza,” Pirhossein Kolivand added, there had not been such a high number of students killed simultaneously. He also called the attack “a unique and bitter incident.”

The United Nations cultural and education agency, UNESCO, condemned the strike, saying in a statement on social media on Sunday: “The killing of pupils in a place dedicated to learning constitutes a grave violation of the protection afforded to schools under international humanitarian law.”
International law is clear on the protection of civilians and educational institutions during armed conflict. Intentionally attacking a school, hospital, or other civilian infrastructure is a war crime, and indiscriminate strikes also violate the law. Even if schools are used for military purposes, the law requires armed parties to take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize harm to civilians, as emphasized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). These rules are codified in the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law, which explicitly prohibit targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who has campaigned for the right of young girls to go to school, condemned the Minab attack on social media: “They were girls who went to school to learn, with hopes and dreams for their future. Today, their lives were brutally cut short. I am heartbroken and appalled by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, including reports that a girls’ school in southern Iran was hit, resulting in the injury and death of many girls. The killing of civilians, especially children, is unconscionable, and I condemn it unequivocally. My heart is with the children, families, and communities affected by escalation across the region. I stand firmly against violence and the targeting of schools and civilians. I call for the escalation of violence across the region to end. Justice and accountability must follow. All states and parties must uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians and safeguard schools.”

The killing of students in Minab resonates against a backdrop of repeated attacks on schools in conflict zones globally. Israel, in particular, has carried out strikes on schools in Gaza during the Gaza war, which started in October 2023. Reports from international human rights organizations documented multiple incidents in which schools sheltering civilians were hit, leaving children and families exposed to severe harm. These attacks have consistently drawn condemnation from the United Nations, NGOs, and legal experts, as attacks on schools constitute violations of international law and fundamental human rights.

Humanitarian commentators and analysts outside Iran have highlighted the school strike as emblematic of the severe civilian toll in the conflict, reiterating the urgent need for accountability, adherence to humanitarian norms, and the protection of children in conflict zones. They emphasize that such attacks not only violate international law but also erode the moral and legal frameworks that safeguard civilian life worldwide.

Legal experts note that the attack on Shajareh Tayyebah elementary school violates numerous provisions of international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention protects civilians in times of war, and the Additional Protocols explicitly safeguard schools as civilian objects. The United Nations Security Council, through multiple resolutions, has reaffirmed that attacks on schools and children are unacceptable under any circumstances, urging member states to enforce protections rigorously.

Despite the scale of the tragedy, Western leaders have largely remained silent on the deadly attack on the Iranian school. Meanwhile, some self-exiled Iranians who live abroad have defended U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran, which have killed hundreds of people since Saturday. Among them is Reza Pahlavi, the former Iranian crown prince and son of the deposed Shah, who has publicly supported U.S. and Israeli operations.

Reza Pahlavi, who has called U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran “humanitarian intervention,” expressed sorrow for American casualties following a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announcement that three service members were killed in operations against Iran:
“My heart aches for the 3 American heroes killed and the 5 wounded by the regime (Iran). The Iranian people are forever in their debt. To their grieving families: please accept our immense love, deepest condolences, and eternal gratitude,” he wrote on X.

His comments have drawn fierce backlash. Mehrdad Farahmand, a former BBC correspondent in the Middle East, a self-exiled critic of the Islamic Republic who now works as a Middle East analyst in Turkey, criticized Pahlavi for failing to condemn the U.S. and Israeli strikes on the school in Minab. 

Farahmand also denounced other self-exiled Iranians who support Pahlavi’s stance: “Shame on you for standing behind such a miserable, unpatriotic wretch. He (Reza Pahlavi) offered condolences for the death of an American soldier who attacked his homeland and declared himself indebted to them (Israelis and Americans), yet stayed silent over the killing of more than 150 schoolchildren in Minab,” Farahmand said on his X account.

Other X users joined in criticizing Pahlavi. Chinese journalist Li Zexin addressed him: “Calling the invaders heroes. Iran would be totally doomed if you, the US puppet.”

London-based journalist Bushra Shaikh said: “Your perpetual begging for attention from the Epstein Empire is making me puke.”

Midhuam Saud, another X user, wrote: “How touching, the Zionist Shah's son has a heart that aches for three Americans lost in a war of their own making. It's a shame that same heart remained perfectly still when over 100 Iranian schoolchildren were killed by the US & Israel.”

The Minab tragedy underscores the catastrophic consequences of attacks on civilian infrastructure, particularly schools, and highlights the urgent need for the international community to enforce humanitarian norms and hold violators accountable. Attacks on schools, whether in Iran or Gaza, are not only morally abhorrent but also constitute clear breaches of international law, undermining the protections that exist to shield the most vulnerable during armed conflict.