At least 43 students killed in Israeli strike on girls' school in southern Iran
Photo: Screengrab Press TV
At least 43 students were killed and 63 others were wounded on Saturday in an Israeli strike targeting a girls’ school in Minab in Iran's Hormozgan Province, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Minab’s provincial governor, Mohammad Radmehr, confirmed to IRNA that the Shajareye Tayabeh school had been directly attacked and that many students had been martyred.
He said rescue and aid operations were underway at the school, adding that the security situation in the city was under control.
The Iranian foreign minister vowed that the "crimes against the Iranian people will not go unanswered".
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/AVqiuolgWmThe strike came hours after the United States and Israel launched what they described as coordinated military action against Iran early on Saturday. The attacks marked a sharp intensification of hostilities, further raising fears of a broader regional conflict.
"The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel," Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Israeli defence officials state that this operation was planned months ago, with the launch date decided some weeks prior. They added that this attack was coordinated with the US, and the US has planned "several days of attacks" against Iran.
Iran’s Armed Forces responded with what officials described as massive retaliatory strikes, targeting Israeli-controlled territory and American military bases across the region with ballistic missiles and drones.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that a first wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks had been launched against Israel, warning that all US bases and interests in the region were within Iran’s reach, an Iranian official told Reuters.
Bahrain said the service centre of the US Fifth Fleet had been subjected to a missile attack. Video footage from witnesses in Bahrain showed a thick grey plume of smoke rising from near the small island state’s coastline as sirens wailed.
Qatar said it had downed all missiles targeting the country, according to the state news agency. A Qatari official told AFP that defence systems intercepted an Iranian missile as warning sirens sounded across the Gulf state.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said one person was killed by falling shrapnel following the Iranian missile attack.
Read More: Iran targets US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and UAE after American, Israeli strikes
The UAE said it was targeted on Saturday by what it described as a “blatant attack” involving Iranian ballistic missiles, adding that its air defence systems intercepted a number of them.
The Defence Ministry said debris fell in a residential area of Abu Dhabi, causing material damage and killing one person of Asian nationality.
The exchange of fire has pushed the Middle East into renewed military confrontation, dimming prospects for diplomatic efforts aimed at easing tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.