Dozens Of School Girls Killed In US Strike, Iranian Officials Say

Iranian state media claims a joint U.S.-Israeli military strike hit a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran Saturday, killing dozens of young students as the two allies launched a massive bombardment across the country.

The governor of Minab County told Iranian state media that 51 students died and 60 suffered injuries when a missile struck a girls’ elementary school in Hormozgan province, NBC News reported. Roughly 170 girls between the ages of seven and 12 were inside the building at the time, Middle East Eye reported, citing Iranian news agencies Tasnim and Fars.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported the death toll at the school had climbed to at least 57 with 45 additional wounded, as reported by The Associated Press. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard operates a base in Minab, a detail that AP noted that could explain why the southern coastal city fell within the strike zone. The AP wire report was bylined from Dubai by Jon Gambrell and Konstantin Toropin. (RELATED: Iran Unleashes Waves Of Strikes On US Military, Israel To Make ‘Aggressors Regret Their Criminal Act’)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called the strike a “cowardly attack” on the school and said it “caused deep pain to the hearts of the Iranian nation and all free people of the world,” NBC News reported. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a photo on X showing the leveled building and warned the deaths of the children “will not go unanswered.” The Israeli military’s situation room told NBC it was looking into the reports but had no update to provide.

The destroyed building is a primary school for girls in the south of Iran. It was bombed in broad daylight, when packed with young pupils.

Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone.

These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered. pic.twitter.com/AVqiuolgWm

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) February 28, 2026

The school attack took place during Operation Epic Fury, a sweeping joint U.S.-Israeli campaign that launched Saturday after President Donald Trump’s 10-day deadline to Iran expired. Trump said the operation targeted Tehran’s missile infrastructure and nuclear ambitions. He acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, saying “that often happens in war,” according to AP.

The strikes began while Oman was actively mediating nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Oman’s foreign minister said on X he was “dismayed” that “active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” according to AP. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard responded by launching what it called a “first wave” of drones and missiles at Israeli and American targets across the region.