The Human Rights Council discusses the attack on the Minab School in Iran

This was preceded by an emergency session on Wednesday, at the request of Bahrain on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Jordan. “To discuss Iran’s recent military aggression against Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on February 28, 2026.”

Volker Türk demands a comprehensive investigation

Speaking at today’s urgent session, Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk said the bombing of Shajarat Taiba primary school in Minab had sparked a “sense of profound and appalling horror.”

He added: “The images of destroyed classrooms and grieving parents clearly demonstrated that those paying the price of war are civilians who have no power in the decisions that led to the conflict. In this case, some 168 people, including students, teachers and school staff, as well as their loved ones, were reported to have fallen victim.” He extends his sincere condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families.

Turk said, “No matter what differences exist between countries, we all agree that these differences will never be resolved by killing school children,” noting that for this reason the laws of war were created to protect children and other civilians trapped in conflicts, as well as to protect schools and all civilian infrastructure.

Regarding the case of this school, Turk said that the responsibility for conducting an immediate, impartial, transparent, and comprehensive investigation falls on the parties that carried out the attack, with the aim of clarifying the facts and establishing the necessary rules for accountability, noting that high-level American officials stated that this strike is currently subject to investigation.

Turk called for this investigation to be completed as soon as possible, and for its results to be announced to public opinion. “Justice must be achieved to compensate for the grave damage that occurred.”

Volker Türk said that one of the matters of great concern is the increasing frequency of attacks targeting schools in various parts of the world.

Huge damage and hundreds killed

Ms. Farida Shahid, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, reported that during approximately one month of war, more than 600 schools and educational facilities were destroyed or severely damaged, as well as at least 230 children and teachers killed.

Ms. Farida Shahid said during her speech at the session that an American Tomahawk missile struck a primary school in Minab at 11:45 am local time, while classes were in progress. At least 175 people were killed in the attack, most of whom were female students between the ages of seven and twelve.

Across Iran, according to the Special Rapporteur, more than 1,000 civilians were killed during the war, three million people were displaced, and hospitals and World Heritage sites were destroyed. She added, “Killing children can never be justified, under any circumstances.”

*It is noteworthy that special rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is an international body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world. Rapporteurs and experts are tasked with studying human rights situations and submitting reports on them to the Council. The experts perform their duties in a personal capacity and completely independent of any government or organization, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations agencies. Any opinions or positions they express are their own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the United Nations or the Office of the High Commissioner.

Iran

Speaking via video, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the attack on the school in Minab was deliberate and not an “error in judgement.”

He added that “This barbaric attack is only the tip of a much larger iceberg that hides far more serious catastrophes beneath its surface. These catastrophes are precisely the normalization of the most heinous violations of human rights and humanitarian law, and the audacity to commit heinous crimes with impunity.”

He continued, saying: “At a time when the American and Israeli aggressors – according to their own claims – possessed the most advanced technology and the highest levels of accuracy in military and data systems, no one could believe that the attack on this school was anything other than a deliberate and intentional act.”

He said that the attack on the school is “a war crime and a crime against humanity, and it is an act that requires categorical condemnation from everyone, and clear accountability for those involved.”

He added: “This atrocity cannot be justified, cannot be hidden, and must not be met with silence and indifference. The attack on the Shajarat Taiba School was not just a passing incident, nor the product of an error in judgement; and the contradictory statements issued by the United States, which aim to justify its crime, can in no way absolve it of its responsibility.”

So far, during this urgent discussion, all speakers have condemned the attack on the school and attacks on children.

Certificate of an Iranian mother

The Human Rights Council heard a briefing from an Iranian mother who lost her two children in the attack on the primary school in the city of Minab. She said: “I am a mother who still, to this moment, whenever she passes by her children’s room, feels an overwhelming desire to open the door to see her children sleeping in their beds as they always do, or sitting there drawing. But the room is silent; silent, much deeper than any home should be.”

She continued: “I am not just a bereaved mother. Rather, I am the voice of all the mothers who sent their children to school believing that they would be safe. School was supposed to be a place for learning, laughing, and building the future; a safe place for children who were supposed to build the future of this world, not a place where their dreams and futures were extinguished in one moment.”

She appealed to the Human Rights Council and its members not to allow this tragedy to be forgotten. She said: “The truth must come to light, and Israel and the United States, which caused this suffering, must be held accountable, not out of revenge, but for the sake of justice, so that the world realizes that children’s lives are not worthless, and so that no parent will ever again have to bear such a burden.”