Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

Iran held a mass funeral for 165 schoolgirls and staff killed on Saturday in what Iranian authorities have described as a United States–Israeli attack on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab, AzerNEWS reports, citing foreign media.

The Israeli military, however, stated that it had no knowledge of any Israeli or US operations in the area. In past conflicts, Israel has repeatedly denied involvement in deadly attacks on civilians, only to later acknowledge some incidents as “accidental” when incontrovertible evidence emerged.

Footage broadcast by Iranian state television on Tuesday showed thousands of mourners filling a public square in Minab. Men waved the flag of the Islamic Republic while maintaining distance from women draped in black chadors.

From the stage, a woman claiming to be the mother of one of the victims, “Atena,” held up printed images of the deceased, calling them “a document of American crimes,” and added, “They died in the way of God.”

The crowd responded with chants of “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” and “No surrender.”

The attack occurred shortly after the US and Israel announced joint strikes on Iranian targets, marking the deadliest civilian casualty incident in the ongoing conflict with Tehran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the strike on Monday, accusing the US and Israel of deliberately targeting schoolchildren. “These are graves being dug for more than 160 innocent young girls who were killed in the US-Israeli bombing of a primary school. Their bodies were torn to shreds,” Araghchi wrote on X, alongside images of freshly dug graves.

Observers note that the incident has dramatically escalated tensions in the region, with fears that the tragedy could trigger widespread protests and harden anti-Western sentiment across the Middle East. Humanitarian groups have also called for urgent investigations into the attack to determine accountability and prevent further civilian casualties.