ABNA24 - Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi stated that the massacre of Iran's schoolchildren in Minab is just the "tip of a far larger iceberg" of the US-Israeli's war crimes, demanding unequivocal condemnation by all and unambiguous accountability for the culprits.
The ranking diplomat delivered the statement in an urgent meeting of the United Nations Rights Council on Friday to address the US-Israeli attack against Shajare Tayyebe Elementary school in the city of Minab, which claimed the lives of 175 students and teachers in late February."Iran stands today amid the throes of an illegal war imposed by two bullying nuclear armed regimes, the United States and Israel," Araqchi said, adding that the "blatantly unjustified and brutal" onslaught began when Tehran and Washington were engaging in a diplomatic process. "They betrayed diplomacy for a second time in the course of nine months by torpedoing the negotiating table," he added, referring to the US-Israeli assaults on Iran in June 2025."Among the most harrowing manifestations of this aggression," maintained the minister, was the "calculated, phased assault on Shajare Tayyebe Elementary school".
"This cruel attack is but the visible tip of a far bigger iceberg—one that conceals beneath its surface far graver catastrophes, namely: the normalization of the most abhorrent violations of human rights and humanitarian law, and the audacity to commit atrocity crimes with impunity," Araqchi stated. Referring to the invading coalition's claim of possessing high-precision weapons, he noted that "no one can believe that the attack on the school was anything other than deliberate and intentional".The attack on the school was a "war crime and a crime against humanity", the minister highlighted, urging "unequivocal condemnation by all and unambiguous accountability for the culprits." He noted that the US military's cannot elude responsibility for the attack by branding it as an "incident" or a "miscalculation".
Araqchi added that the Minab school had not been the only casualty of American-Israeli atrocity crimes in the past 27 days. "Human rights and IHL have been massively and systematically violated by the invaders in an unprecedentedly brutal manner," he continued, saying that aggressors are targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures with "no regard for laws of war and basic principles of humanity and civility." More than 600 schools have been demolished or damaged across Iran and more than 1000 students and teachers martyred or wounded as a result, the Iranian minister clarified. "The Aggressors, who are arrogantly shouting ‘no mercy, no quarters’, and threatening to strike Iran’s vital infrastructures, have been attacking hospitals, ambulances, health workers, Red Crescent rescuers, refineries, water sources and residential areas," he continued. "The aggressors’ targeting pattern accompanied by their rhetorics leave little doubt as to their clear intent to commit genocide," warned the minister.
Araqchi stated that the assault on Iran was the "direct result" of the international community's silence in the face of and atrocity in occupied Palestine, Lebanon and elsewhere. "Indifference and silence in the face of injustices would bring no security and peace. It would invite more insecurity and right violations," he said, adding, "The United Nations and the core values it embodies as well as the overall human right framework are at serious stake." "Iran has never sought war," the minister highlighted, noting that it has, however, "demonstrated absolute resolve and determination to defend themselves against the brutal aggressors who know no boundary in perpetrating all sorts of crimes—a defense that shall persist as long as needed".
The US and Israel started a fresh round of aerial onslaught on Iran in late February, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked assault on the country.The strikes led to the martyrdom of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, and more than 1,300 people, including women and children, as well as military commanders.Iran began to swiftly and firmly retaliate against the raids by firing barrages of missiles and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in regional countries.
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